United Kingdom budget
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The United Kingdom budget is a typically annual budget set by HM Treasury outlining the revenues to be gathered by HM Revenue and Customs and the expenditures of the public sector, in compliance with government policy.[1]
Budgets are usually set once every year and are announced in the House of Commons by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The most recent budget was delivered by George Osborne on 21 March 2012.
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[edit] Budget process
- The UK fiscal year - termed the "financial year" ends on March 31 of the following calendar year. Thus, the UK budget for financial year 2011 would cover the period from April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012 and is often referred to as 2011-12.
- In the UK, the budget is often released in March of the previous fiscal year, less than one month before the beginning of the new fiscal year. Stopgap funding is provided by the Vote on Account (see below), and Parliament typically makes appropriations by the summer time. Legislative action on the proposed budget is faster in the UK and generally aligns with the executive's original budget request, since the Prime Minister's cabinet tends to exert significant control over Parliament. For more on the "weak separation of powers" inherent in the UK's Parliamentary system, see this entry on separation of powers.</ref>
- In the UK, departments submit their funding requests - called "Main Supply Estimates" - to HM Treasury. The government then releases this data in a large consolidated document titled "Central Government Supply Estimates (Budget Year-Following Year): Main Supply Estimates" [2]
- The UK government reserves the right to submit "Supplementary Estimates" in the winter and spring of a given fiscal year to update its agencies' spending totals for the current financial year and report any governmental re-organizations. When an agency submits a Supplementary Estimate, it is customary to also submit an "Estimate Memorandum" to the agency's relevant oversight committee in Parliament describing and justifying the changes. This condenses two functions - reporting supplemental spending requests and agency re-organizations.
- In the UK Parliament is not expected to take action on a budget for the fiscal year until the summer, several months after the start of the fiscal year. For that reason, Parliament typically passes a "Vote on Account" in early spring that provides continuity of funding into the new fiscal year, up until the point that the new budget is enacted. The spending authorized in the Vote on Account is normally 45% of the amounts already authorized in the current fiscal year, taking into account the Main Estimates and any Revised or Supplementary Estimates already approved by Parliament. [3]
[edit] Previous budgets
- 2012
- 2011
- 2010 (June 'emergency')
- 2010 (March original)
- 2009
- 2008
- 2007
- United Kingdom budget 2007-08
[edit] See also
- Countries of the United Kingdom by GVA per capita
- Government spending in the United Kingdom
- United Kingdom national debt
- Budget Day
- Economy of the United Kingdom
[edit] References
- ^ "[ARCHIVED CONTENT] PESA 2007". Hm-treasury.gov.uk. http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/economic_data_and_tools/finance_spending_statistics/pes_publications/pespub_pesa07.cfm. Retrieved 2010-04-01.
- ^ "Central Government Supply Estimates (2011-12): Main Supply Estimates", 26 April 2011, http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc1012/hc09/0921/0921.pdf
- ^ "Central Government Supply Estimates 2012-13; Vote on Account", HC 1756, February 2012, p 3, http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc1012/hc17/1756/1756.pdf]]
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