Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000

Supply

Application of sums issued

1

• (1) Where a Consolidated Fund Act or Appropriation Act authorises a sum to be—

• (a) issued out of the Consolidated Fund, and

• (b) applied to the service of a specified year,

every sum issued in pursuance of the Act shall be applied towards the service of that year.

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Appropriation in aid

2

• (1) The Treasury may, subject to any relevant limit set by an Appropriation Act, direct that resources may be applied as an appropriation in aid of resources authorised by Parliament to be used for the service of a particular year.

• (2) A direction under subsection (1) shall be—

• (a) made by minute, and

• (b) laid before Parliament.

• (3) Subsections (4) and (5) apply where money is received in connection with an appropriation in aid which has been or is expected to be directed under subsection (1).

• (4) Where the money is received in the year for the service of which the appropriation in aid is authorised—

• (a) the appropriation in aid is authority for the money to be used in accordance with the Treasury’s direction, and

• (b) in so far as it is not used for that purpose it shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

• (5) Where the money is received in a year other than that for the service of which the appropriation in aid is or is to be authorised, it shall be—

• (a) retained and applied as a use of resources authorised by Appropriation Act for the service of the year in which the money is received, or

• (b) paid into the Consolidated Fund.

• (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Government funds and accounts

Payments out

3

• (1) Subsection (2) applies to a requisition, request or order under—

• (a) section 13 or 15 of the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866 (payments out of the Consolidated Fund), or

• (b) section 1(3) of the National Loans Act 1968 (payments out of the National Loans Fund).

• (2) A requisition, request or order to which this subsection applies—

• (a) may be produced, authenticated and transmitted in any manner which the Treasury, with the approval of the Comptroller and Auditor General, decide to adopt, but

• (b) shall be accompanied by evidence of the approval of two officers of the Treasury appointed for that purpose.

• (3) A request or order under section 20 of the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866 (government stock and annuities) may be produced, authenticated and transmitted in any manner which the Treasury decide to adopt.

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Payments in by error

4

• (1) Where—

• (a) money is paid into the Consolidated Fund or the National Loans Fund, and

• (b) the money should not or need not have been paid into the Fund,

all or any part of the money may be paid out of the Fund in accordance with this section.

• (2) In the case of the Consolidated Fund—

• (a) the Comptroller and Auditor General shall on receipt of a requisition from the Treasury grant a credit on the Exchequer account at the Bank of England (or on its growing balance), and

• (b) an issue shall be made on orders given to the Bank by the Treasury in accordance with a credit granted under paragraph (a).

• (3) In the case of the National Loans Fund—

• (a) the Comptroller and Auditor General shall at the request of the Treasury grant a credit on the National Loans Fund, and

• (b) a payment out of the Fund shall be made by the Treasury in accordance with a credit granted under paragraph (a).

• (4) A payment or issue made under this section shall be recorded in—

• (a) the daily account under section 15(5) of the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866 (Consolidated Fund), or

• (b) the daily statement under section 1(2) of the National Loans Act 1968 (National Loans Fund).

Departmental accounts

Resource accounts: preparation

5

• (1) A government department for which an estimate is approved by the House of Commons in respect of a financial year shall prepare accounts (to be known as resource accounts) for that year detailing—

• (a) resources acquired, held or disposed of during the year by—

• (i) the department, or

• (ii) any body that is a designated body under section 4A in relation to the department for the year, and

• (b) the use of resources during the year by the department or any such body.

• (2) Resource accounts shall be prepared in accordance with directions issued by the Treasury.

• (3) The Treasury shall exercise the power to issue directions under subsection (2) with a view to ensuring that resource accounts—

• (a) present a true and fair view,

• (b) conform to generally accepted accounting practice subject to such adaptations as are necessary in the context of departmental accounts, and

• (c) accord with guidance issued by the Treasury about the inclusion of an explanation of the difference between an item appearing in a department’s estimate and a corresponding item appearing in or reflected in the department’s resource accounts.

• (4) For the purpose of subsection (3)(a) and (b) the Treasury shall in particular—

• (a) have regard to any relevant guidance issued by the Accounting Standards Board Limited or any other body prescribed for the purposes of section 464 of the Companies Act 2006 (accounting standards) or to UK-adopted international accounting standards, within the meaning given by section 474(1) of the Companies Act 2006, and

• (b) require resource accounts to include, subject to paragraph (a), a statement of financial performance, a statement of financial position and a cash flow statement.

• (5) A department which prepares resource accounts shall send them to the Comptroller and Auditor General not later than 30th November of the financial year following that to which the accounts relate.

• (6) The Treasury shall, in the case of each department which is obliged to prepare accounts in accordance with subsection (1), appoint an official of the department as its accounting officer.

• (7) While a person holds appointment as a department’s accounting officer he shall be responsible for—

• (a) the preparation of the department’s resource accounts, and

• (b) their transmission to the Comptroller and Auditor General.

• (8) The Treasury may appoint an official of a department as accounting officer in respect of a particular part of the department’s resource accounts; and that person shall be responsible for the preparation of that part of the accounts.

• (9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Resource accounts: scrutiny

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• (1) The Comptroller and Auditor General shall examine any resource accounts which he receives from a department under section 5(5) with a view to satisfying himself—

• (a) that the accounts present a true and fair view,

• (b) that money provided by Parliament has been expended for the purposes intended by Parliament,

• (c) that resources authorised by Parliament to be used have been used for the purposes in relation to which the use was authorised, and

• (d) that—

• (i) the financial transactions of the department, and

• (ii) the financial transactions of any body that is a designated body under section 4A in relation to the department for the year in question,

are in accordance with any relevant authority.

• (2) If resource accounts appear to the Comptroller and Auditor General to suggest that a material use of resources required but did not receive the authority of the Treasury—

• (a) he shall inform the Treasury, and

• (b) if the Treasury sanction the use of resources, he shall treat it as always having had the Treasury’s authority.

• (3) Where the Comptroller and Auditor General has conducted an examination of accounts under subsection (1)—

• (a) he shall certify them and issue a report,

• (b) he shall send the certified accounts and the report to the Treasury not later than 15th January of the financial year following that to which the accounts relate, and

• (c) if he is not satisfied of the matters set out in subsection (1)(a) to (d), he shall report to the House of Commons.

• (4) The Treasury shall lay accounts and reports received under subsection (3)(b) before the House of Commons not later than 31st January of the financial year following that to which they relate.

• (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Other departmental accounts

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• (1) The Treasury may direct a government department to prepare for each financial year accounts in relation to any specified matter.

• (2) Accounts under subsection (1) shall be prepared in accordance with directions issued by the Treasury.

• (3) Where a department prepares accounts under subsection (1)—

• (a) it shall send them to the Comptroller and Auditor General not later than 30th November of the financial year following that to which the accounts relate,

• (b) the Comptroller and Auditor General shall examine and certify the accounts, issue a report on them and send the certified accounts and the report to the Treasury not later than 15th January of that year, and

• (c) the Treasury shall lay the certified accounts and the report before the House of Commons not later than 31st January of that year.

• (4) The Comptroller and Auditor General shall carry out his examination of accounts under subsection (3)(b) with a view to satisfying himself—

• (a) that money provided by Parliament has been expended for the purposes intended by Parliament,

• (b) that resources authorised by Parliament to be used have been used for the purposes in relation to which the use was authorised, and

• (c) that the department’s financial transactions are in accordance with any relevant authority.

• (5) The Treasury may, in relation to accounts under subsection (1) generally or in relation to specified accounts under subsection (1), direct that this section shall have effect as if references to the relevant department were substituted for the references to the Treasury in subsection (3)(b) and (c).

• (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comptroller and Auditor General: access to information

8

• (1) For the purposes of an examination by the Comptroller and Auditor General of a government department’s accounts—

• (a) he shall have a right of access at all reasonable times to any of the documents relating to the department’s accounts, and

• (b) a person who holds or has control of any of those documents shall give the Comptroller and Auditor General any assistance, information or explanation which he requires in relation to any of those documents.

• (2) Subsection (1) applies only in relation to documents which are held or controlled—

• (a) by a government department, or

• (b) in pursuance of arrangements made by a government department for the compiling or handling of any of its financial records.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Whole of government accounts

Preparation

9

• (1) The Treasury shall prepare in respect of each financial year a set of accounts for a group of bodies each of which appears to the Treasury—

• (a) to exercise functions of a public nature, or

• (b) to be entirely or substantially funded from public money.

• (2) Accounts prepared under this section may include information referring wholly or partly to activities which—

• (a) are not activities of bodies falling within subsection (1), but

• (b) appear to the Treasury to be activities of a public nature.

• (3) The accounts shall contain such information in such form as the Treasury think fit.

• (4) In determining the form and content of the accounts the Treasury shall aim to ensure that the accounts—

• (a) present a true and fair view, and

• (b) conform to generally accepted accounting practice subject to such adaptations as are necessary in the context.

• (5) For the purpose of subsection (4)(a) and (b) the Treasury shall in particular—

• (a) have regard to any relevant guidance issued by the Accounting Standards Board Limited or any other body prescribed for the purposes of section 464 of the Companies Act 2006 (accounting standards) or to UK-adopted international accounting standards, within the meaning given by section 474(1) of the Companies Act 2006, and

• (b) ensure that the accounts include, subject to paragraph (a), a statement of financial performance, a statement of financial position and a cash flow statement.

Obtaining information

10

• (1) Where the Treasury intend the accounts under section 9 for a particular financial year to relate in part to a particular body which falls within section 9(1), the Treasury may by order designate that body for the purposes of this section in respect of that year.

• (2) Where a body is designated in respect of a financial year it shall—

• (a) prepare such financial information in relation to the year as the Treasury may request,

• (b) present the information in such form as the Treasury may direct,

• (c) arrange for the information to be audited, and

• (d) deliver the information to the Treasury, in such manner and by such date in the next year as the Treasury may direct.

• (3) Where a body is designated in respect of a financial year the Treasury may request it to—

• (a) prepare specified financial information in relation to a specified part of the year,

• (b) present the information in a specified form, and

• (c) deliver the information to the Treasury in a specified manner by a specified date.

• (4) A designated body shall comply with a request under subsection (3).

• (5) A designated body shall comply with any direction of the Treasury as to the person or kind of person to be given responsibility for ensuring compliance with subsections (2) and (3).

• (6) The Treasury may not designate a body if its activities relate entirely to Scotland.

• (7) Before designating a body or giving a direction under subsection (5) the Treasury shall, where they think it appropriate, consult the Welsh Ministers.

• (8) The Treasury may make arrangements for theWelsh Ministers or another body to—

• (a) receive information provided under subsection (2) or (3),

• (b) consolidate information received,

• (c) arrange for the consolidation to be audited, and

• (d) deliver the consolidation to the Treasury.

• (9) Where arrangements under subsection (8) apply—

• (a) a person carrying out an audit under subsection (2)(c) shall give a person carrying out an audit under subsection (8)(c) such information and explanations as he may reasonably require for the purposes of that provision, and

• (b) subsections (2)(d) and (3)(c) shall have effect as if for a reference to the Treasury there were substituted a reference to a body specified by the Treasury.

• (10) An order under subsection (1)—

• (a) shall be made by statutory instrument, and

• (b) shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

Scrutiny

11

• (1) The Treasury shall send accounts under section 9 to the Comptroller and Auditor General.

• (2) The Comptroller and Auditor General shall examine accounts sent to him under this section with a view to satisfying himself that they present a true and fair view.

• (3) Where the Comptroller and Auditor General has conducted an examination of accounts he shall—

• (a) certify them and issue a report, and

• (b) send the certified accounts and the report to the Treasury.

• (4) The Treasury shall lay accounts and reports received under subsection (3)(b) before the House of Commons.

• (5) A person who acts as auditor for the purposes of section 10(2)(c) or (8)(c) shall give to the Comptroller and Auditor General such information and explanations as he may reasonably require for the purposes of this section.

• (6) The Treasury shall by order specify dates by which the duties under subsections (1), (3)(b) and (4) shall be performed.

• (7) Before making an order under subsection (6) the Treasury shall consult the Comptroller and Auditor General.

• (8) An order under subsection (6)—

• (a) shall be made by statutory instrument, and

• (b) shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the House of Commons.

National Health Service

Health Authorities and Special Health Authorities

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Primary Care Trusts

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Summarised accounts

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• (1) The Treasury may by order provide for ...paragraph 5 of Schedule 9 to the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006 not to apply in relation to a specified body for a specified year.

• (2) The Treasury may make an order in respect of a body for a year only if they consider that the preparation of summarised accounts for that body and that year is unnecessary having regard to information contained or to be contained in—

• (a) a department’s resource accounts under section 5, or

• (b) accounts under section 9.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) Before making an order under subsection (1) in respect of an NHS body within the meaning of paragraph 1 of Schedule 9 to the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006, the Treasury shall consult—

• (a) the National Assembly for Wales, and