The Scotland Act 2012 (Commencement No. 4) Order 2014

Made: 8th December 2014

The Treasury make the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by section 44(4) of the Scotland Act 2012[^f00001]:

Citation

1

This Order may be cited as the Scotland Act 2012 (Commencement No. 4) Order 2014.

Appointed Day

2

The day appointed for the coming into force of section 32 (borrowing by the Scottish Ministers) of the Scotland Act 2012 is 12th December 2014.

Signed

Mark Lancaster — Gavin Barwell — Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury — 8th December 2014

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Article 2 of this Order commences section 32 of the Scotland Act [2012 (c.11)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/11) (the “2012 Act”) on 12th December 2014. This section amends sections 66 and 67 of the Scotland Act [1998 (c.46)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/46) to revise the circumstances under which the Scottish Ministers may borrow and set out the main controls and limits on such borrowing. These amendments enable the Scottish Ministers to borrow - subject to HM Treasury’s controls and limits - for the following purposes:

• (a) to meet a ‘temporary excess of sums paid out of the Scottish Consolidated Fund (SCF) over the sums paid into the fund’ – this means that the Scottish Government can borrow to manage excessive in-year volatility of receipts, where actual income differs greatly from the forecast receipts for that month;

• (b) to provide a working balance to the SCF, i.e. enough balance to ensure cash-flow;

• (c) to meet the differences between forecast and outturn receipts for devolved taxes or from income tax charged by virtue of a Scottish rate resolution; and

• (d) to fund capital expenditure.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 2012 c. 11.