Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000

PART 1S PUBLIC RESOURCES AND FINANCES

Use of resourcesS

1 Use of resourcesS

(1)The use of resources by—

(a)the Scottish Administration, and

(b)each body or office-holder (other than an office-holder in the Scottish Administration) whose expenditure is payable out of the Scottish Consolidated Fund (“the Fund”) under any enactment,

for any purpose in any financial year must be authorised for that year by Budget Act and must not exceed any amount so authorised in relation to that purpose.

(2)The use of resources accruing to the Scottish Administration or any such body or office-holder in a financial year (“accruing resources”) for any purpose in that financial year must be so authorised separately from the use of other resources.

(3)In this Act a reference to the use of resources is a reference to their expenditure, consumption or reduction in value.

2 Emergency arrangementsS

(1)This section applies where, at the beginning of any financial year (“the current financial year”), the use of resources mentioned in section 1(1) has not been authorised for that year by Budget Act.

(2)Until there is in force a Budget Act authorising that use of resources for the current financial year—

(a)any purpose for which the use of resources was authorised for the previous financial year by Budget Act shall be taken to be a purpose for which the use of resources is authorised for the current financial year, and

(b)the use of resources for any purpose for each calendar month of the current financial year must not exceed whichever is the greater of—

(i)one-twelfth of any amount authorised in relation to that purpose by Budget Act for the previous financial year, and

(ii)the amount of resources used for that purpose in the corresponding calendar month of the previous financial year;

and section 1 has effect accordingly.

(3)Subsection (2) is subject to any provision made by Budget Act for the current financial year.

3 ContingenciesS

(1)This section applies where it is proposed that resources be used for any purpose in any financial year by the Scottish Administration or a body or office-holder referred to in section 1(1)(b) other than in accordance with that section (whether or not as modified by section 2).

(2)The resources may be so used only with the authority of the Scottish Ministers.

(3)The Scottish Ministers may authorise the use of resources only if they consider that—

(a)the use is necessarily required in the public interest, and

(b)it is not reasonably practicable, for reasons of urgency, for the requirements of section 1 in relation to the use to be satisfied by a Budget Act.

(4)The aggregate amount of the resources which the Scottish Ministers may authorise to be used under this section in any financial year must not exceed 0.5% of the aggregate amount of the resources which, at the beginning of that year, were authorised to be used in that year by virtue of section 1.

(5)Where the Scottish Ministers authorise the use of resources under this section they must, as soon as possible, lay before the Parliament a report setting out the circumstances of the authorisation and why they considered it to be necessary.

The Scottish Consolidated FundS

4 Payments out of the Scottish Consolidated FundS

(1)A sum may be paid out of the Fund under section 65(1)(c) of the Scotland Act 1998 (c.46) (“the 1998 Act”) only in accordance with the rules in this section and sections 5 and 6 of this Act.

(2)The sum must fall within the overall cash authorisation for the financial year in which it is to be paid out.

(3)The expenditure for or in connection with which the sum is to be paid out must be a use of resources authorised for that financial year by virtue of sections 1 to 3.

(4)In this Act “overall cash authorisation”, in relation to a financial year, means the maximum amount authorised by Budget Act to be paid out of the Fund in that year.

(5)Where provision is made by Budget Act for a separate overall cash authorisation in relation to—

(a)the Scottish Administration, or

(b)any body or office-holder (other than an office-holder in the Scottish Administration) whose expenditure is payable out of the Fund under any enactment,

references in this Act to an overall cash authorisation are to the overall cash authorisation in relation to the Scottish Administration or, as the case may be, the body or office-holder in question.

5 Credits for payments out of the FundS

(1)No sum may be paid out of the Fund except in accordance with a credit granted on the Fund by the Auditor General.

(2)The Auditor General shall grant credits for payments out of the Fund from time to time at the request of the Scottish Ministers.

(3)Such a credit must not be granted if, in the Auditor General’s opinion, the proposed payment out of the Fund would not comply with section 65(1) and (2) of the 1998 Act.

(4)This section does not apply to sums paid out of the Fund by virtue of section 6.

6 Repayments from the FundS

A sum paid into the Fund where there is no obligation to do so may, with the agreement of the Auditor General, be repaid to the body or office-holder who made the payment.

7 Application of receiptsS

(1)Subsection (2) applies where the use of accruing resources for any purpose in a financial year is authorised by virtue of sections 1 to 3.

(2)Sums—

(a)which are received in connection with those resources in that or any later financial year by the Scottish Administration or, as the case may be, the body or office-holder in question, and

(b)which, apart from this section, are payable into the Fund,

may instead be applied in the financial year in which they are received for or in connection with expenditure which is a use of resources authorised for that year by virtue of sections 1 to 3.

Further financial provisionsS

8 Capital expenditure of, and borrowing by, certain statutory bodiesS

Schedule 1, which modifies various enactments concerning capital expenditure of, and borrowing by, certain bodies established under enactments, has effect.

F19 Keeper of the Registers of Scotland: financial arrangementsS

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