Office of Public Sector Information
(1) The Treasury may by order provide for section 98(4) of the [1977 c. 49.] National Health Service Act 1977 (requirement to prepare summarised accounts) 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) Before making an order under subsection (1) the Treasury shall consult the Comptroller and Auditor General.
(4) Where the function under section 98(4) of the [1977 c. 49.] National Health Service Act 1977 is exercisable in respect of a body by the National Assembly for Wales—
(a) the Treasury shall consult the National Assembly for Wales and the Auditor General for Wales before making an order in respect of the body under subsection (1) above, and
(b) subsection (3) above shall not apply.
(5) An order under this section—
(a) shall be made by statutory instrument, and
(b) shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
(1) If it appears to the Secretary of State to be expedient in consequence of any of the matters specified in subsection (2), he may by order amend, repeal or make provision similar to any of the following provisions of the [1998 c. 38.] Government of Wales Act 1998—
(a) section 81 (statements by Secretary of State),
(b) section 85 (expenditure by National Assembly), and
(c) section 86 (statements by National Assembly).
(2) The matters mentioned in subsection (1) are—
(a) any provision of this Act,
(b) a change in the accounting methods used by the National Assembly,
(c) a change in the procedures of the House of Commons relating to public money, and
(d) a change in the form of Appropriation Acts.
(3) An order under this section—
(a) shall be made by statutory instrument,
(b) may include incidental or transitional provision, and
(c) shall not be made unless a draft has been laid before, and approved by resolution of, each House of Parliament.
(4) The Secretary of State—
(a) shall consult the National Assembly before making an order under this section which relates to section 81 of the [1998 c. 38.] Government of Wales Act 1998, and
(b) shall not make an order under this section which relates to section 85 or 86 of that Act unless a draft has been laid before, and approved by resolution of, the National Assembly.
(1) The Treasury—
(a) may incur expenditure in respect of the establishment of a body for the purpose of carrying on public-private partnership business,
(b) may incur expenditure for the purposes of investing in the body (whether by acquiring assets, securities or rights or otherwise), and
(c) may provide loans and guarantees and make other kinds of financial provision to or in respect of the body.
(2) The powers under subsection (1)(b) and (c)—
(a) may not be exercised in respect of more than one body, and
(b) may be exercised only in connection with public-private partnership business carried on or to be carried on by the body.
(1) In section 16 “public-private partnership business” means participation in public-private partnerships whether as an investor, a consultant or otherwise.
(2) In particular, “public-private partnership business” includes the provision of advisory or financial services in connection with specific public-private partnerships or public-private partnerships generally—
(a) whether the services are provided to public bodies or to private persons, and
(b) whether or not the services are provided on terms and conditions about payment, consideration or other matters.
(3) In this section “public-private partnerships” means projects and undertakings the resources for which are provided partly by public bodies and partly by private persons.
(4) In subsection (3) “resources” includes funds, assets, professional skills and any other kind of commercial resource.
(5) In this section “public body” means a government department or a body exercising public functions.
(6) In this section—
(a) “projects and undertakings” includes projects and undertakings carried on wholly or partly outside the United Kingdom, and
(b) a reference to public functions is not confined to public functions of the United Kingdom.
(7) In section 16 a reference to a body includes a reference to—
(a) a group of bodies,
(b) a partnership or enterprise carried on by one or more persons or bodies, and
(c) a body (including a body within the meaning of paragraph (a) or (b)) which is substantially the same as, or which is a successor to, another body.
(1) The Treasury shall ensure that the aggregate of outstanding expenditure under section 16(1)(b) and (c) does not at any time exceed £400 million.
(2) For the purpose of subsection (1)—
(a) outstanding expenditure in respect of the acquisition of assets, securities and rights shall be taken to be the aggregate of amounts paid for the acquisition of assets, securities and rights which have not been disposed of,
(b) outstanding expenditure in respect of a loan shall be taken to be the amount outstanding in respect of the principal,
(c) outstanding expenditure in respect of a guarantee shall be taken to be the aggregate of amounts which have been paid in fulfilment of it and in respect of which the Treasury have not been reimbursed, and
(d) the Treasury shall make arrangements for evaluating outstanding expenditure in respect of anything done under section 16(1)(b) or (c) which is not addressed by paragraphs (a) to (c) above.
(3) The Treasury may by order substitute a new amount for the amount for the time being specified in subsection (1).
(4) An order under subsection (3)—
(a) shall be made by statutory instrument, and
(b) shall not be made unless a draft has been laid before, and approved by resolution of, each House of Parliament.
(1) Expenditure by the Treasury for the purposes of section 16 shall, subject to subsection (2), be paid out of money provided by Parliament.
(2) Sums required for fulfilling guarantees given under section 16 shall be charged on and issued out of the Consolidated Fund.
(3) Sums received by the Treasury in connection with anything done under section 16 shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
(1) Any of the following may incur expenditure for the purpose of investing in the body mentioned in section 16—
(a) the Scottish Ministers,
(b) the Northern Ireland departments, and
(c) the National Assembly for Wales.
(2) Subsection (1)—
(a) shall have effect notwithstanding an enactment which restricts the activities of a person or body mentioned in that subsection to matters relating to a particular Part or area of the United Kingdom, and
(b) shall not be construed as preventing or restricting any action which a person or body has power to take without reliance on that subsection.
(3) The power under subsection (1) may be used only for the purpose of—
(a) the acquisition from the Treasury of shares of a kind which are required by the body’s articles of association to be issued to the Treasury (and which may be transferred by the Treasury), and
(b) such other forms of investment (whether by the acquisition of assets, securities, rights or otherwise) as the Treasury may specify by order.
(4) An order under subsection (3)(b)—
(a) may relate generally to persons and bodies mentioned in subsection (1) or to one or more specified persons or bodies,
(b) may make different provision for different purposes,
(c) shall be made by statutory instrument, and
(d) shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
(1) This section applies where a government department makes supplies of goods or services which are taxable supplies for the purposes of the [1994 c. 23.] Value Added Tax Act 1994.
(2) The Treasury may make arrangements—
(a) about the treatment of receipts and payments in respect of value added tax in accounts under section 5 or 7;
(b) for the exemption of receipts in respect of value added tax, to such extent and on such conditions as may be specified, from any requirement for payment into the Consolidated Fund.
(3) For the purposes of this section “government department” has the same meaning as it has for the purposes of section 41 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 (application to the Crown).
(4) Section 21 of the [1999 c. 16.] Finance Act 1999 (accounting for VAT by departments) shall cease to have effect.
(1) The Treasury may by order substitute a new date for a date for the time being specified in section 5, 6 or 7.
(2) An order under subsection (1)—
(a) may specify a new date for all purposes or for specified purposes only,
(b) may specify different dates for different purposes,
(c) shall be made by statutory instrument, and
(d) shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the House of Commons.
(3) Before making an order under subsection (1) the Treasury shall consult the Comptroller and Auditor General.
A direction of the Treasury under—
(a) this Act, or
(b) the [1921 c. 52.] Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1921,
may be revoked or amended by a further direction.
(1) Before—
(a) issuing directions under section 5(2), or
(b) determining the form and content of accounts under section 9,
the Treasury shall consult a group of persons who appear to the Treasury to be appropriate to advise on financial reporting principles and standards.
(2) Before selecting a group for the purpose of subsection (1) the Treasury shall consult the Comptroller and Auditor General.
(3) Where a group is consulted under subsection (1) in a particular year, the Treasury shall arrange for the group to prepare a report for that year—
(a) summarising the activities of the group for the purpose of the consultation, and
(b) dealing with such other matters as the group consider appropriate.
(4) Where a report is prepared under subsection (3), the Treasury shall arrange for it to be laid before the House of Commons.
(1) Subsections (2) and (3) have effect in relation to examinations of accounts carried out by the Comptroller and Auditor General under section 6, 7 or 11.
(2) If the Comptroller and Auditor General changes the extent or character of a particular kind of examination, he shall report to the House of Commons.
(3) An examination of accounts carried out by the Comptroller and Auditor General shall be carried out on behalf of the House of Commons.
(4) Subsection (5) applies where the Comptroller and Auditor General examines and certifies accounts of a body by virtue of an enactment or agreement.
(5) Section 8(1) shall apply for the purposes of the examination of the body’s accounts as it applies for the purposes of the examination of a department’s accounts.
(6) The Treasury may by order provide for the accounts of a body to be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
(7) An order under subsection (6)—
(a) may be made in relation to a body only if it appears to the Treasury that the body exercises functions of a public nature or is entirely or substantially funded from public money, and
(b) may make such supplementary or consequential provision (including provision amending an enactment) as the Treasury think expedient.
(8) The Treasury may by order provide for section 8(1) to apply in relation to documents (in addition to those specified in section 8(2))—
(a) of a specified description, or
(b) which are held or controlled either by a body of a specified kind or in specified circumstances.
(9) An order under subsection (8) may apply in respect of the examination of the accounts of a particular department or body or in respect of examinations under section 8(1) generally.
(10) An order under subsection (6) or (8)—
(a) shall be made by statutory instrument,
(b) shall not be made unless the Treasury have consulted the Comptroller and Auditor General, and
(c) shall not be made unless a draft of the order has been laid before, and approved by resolution of, each House of Parliament.
(1) This section applies where—
(a) a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General is required by this Act to be laid before the House of Commons, and
(b) it is not laid by the Treasury within the time allowed by this Act.
(2) The Comptroller and Auditor General shall lay the report before the House of Commons as soon as possible.
(3) Section 32 of the [1866 c. 39.] Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866 (reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General) shall cease to have effect.
In this Act a reference to the use of resources is a reference to their expenditure, consumption or reduction in value.
In this Act “financial year” means the 12 months ending with 31st March.
(1) Schedule 1 (minor and consequential amendments) shall have effect.
(2) The enactments mentioned in Schedule 2 are hereby repealed.
(1) The preceding provisions of this Act, except for sections 16 to 20, shall come into force in accordance with provision made by the Treasury by order.
(2) An order under subsection (1)—
(a) shall be made by statutory instrument,
(b) may make transitional provision (including provision for the adaptation of references pending the coming into force of other legislation), and
(c) may make different provision for different purposes.
(3) The Treasury may by order provide for section 10(2) to (9) to apply in relation to a body as if it were designated in respect of a financial year under section 10(1).
(4) An order under subsection (3) may not specify a body which could not be designated under section 10(1) by virtue of section 10(6).
(5) Before specifying a body in an order under subsection (3) the Treasury shall, where they think it appropriate, consult the National Assembly for Wales.
(6) An order under subsection (3)—
(a) shall be made by statutory instrument, and
(b) shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
This Act may be cited as the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000.
Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000