Each Appropriation Act has a series of schedules which contain tables that set out how the monies issued out of the Consolidated Fund are appropriated. Each department or body which has money appropriated is noted in the tables which contain columns setting out the things the money appropriated may be spent on, the net resources authorised for use, the grants out of the Consolidated Fund, the operating appropriations in aid and the non-operating appropriations in aid. The money may not be spent for purposes other than that it is appropriated for and it must be spent by the end of the fiscal year covered by that appropriation or returned to the Consolidated Fund.[1]
The typical structure of such an act begins with the long title, which defines which financial years the act applies to. This is followed by the preamble, which is different from the normal British public general Act of Parliament preamble in that it includes additional text before the normal preamble:[citation needed]
Whereas the Commons of the United Kingdom in Parliament assembled have resolved to authorise the use of resources and the issue of sums out of the Consolidated Fund towards making good the supply which they have granted to His Majesty in this Session of Parliament:—
Be it therefore enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Until 2000 an older form of preamble was used:[citation needed]
Most Gracious Sovereign,
WE, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of the United Kingdom in Parliament assembled, towards making good the supply which we have cheerfully granted to Your Majesty in this Session of Parliament, have resolved to grant unto Your Majesty the sums hereinafter mentioned; and do therefore most humbly beseech Your Majesty that it may be enacted and be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Each Appropriation Act typically covers two or more fiscal years, and will normally repeal earlier Appropriation Acts and Consolidated Fund Acts still on the statute books.[1]
Effect
An Appropriation Act normally becomes spent on the conclusion of the financial year to which it relates.[3]
The Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) Act[6][7] (1864) (27 & 28 Vict. c. 73).[8] The bill for this act was the Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) Bill.[9] This act received royal assent on 29 July 1864.
The Appropriation Act 1870[10][11] (33 & 34 Vict. c. 96). This act received royal assent on 10 August 1870. Section 7 was amended by section 6 of the Appropriation Act 1872, and repealed by section 6 of the Appropriation Act 1877. The Appropriation Act 1870, except sections 6 and 8, was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1883. The words "militia, yeomanry" in section 6 were repealed by the Territorial Army and Militia Act 1921.[12] The whole Act was repealed for the United Kingdom by the Schedule to the Statute Law Revision Act 1966, and for the Republic of Ireland by Part 4 of the Schedule to the Statute Law Revision Act 1983.
The Appropriation Act 1871[13] (34 & 35 Vict. c. 89). This act received royal assent on 21 August 1871, and was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1883.
The Appropriation Act 1872[14] (35 & 36 Vict. c. 87). This act received royal assent on 10 August 1872. Section 6 was repealed by section 6 of the Appropriation Act 1877. The Appropriation Act 1872 was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1883.
The Appropriation Act 1873[15] (36 & 37 Vict. c. 79). This act received royal assent on 5 August 1873, and was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1883.
The Appropriation Act 1874[16] (37 & 38 Vict. c. 56). This act received royal assent on 7 August 1874, and was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1883.
The Appropriation Act 1875[17] (38 & 39 Vict. c. 78). This act received royal assent on 13 August 1875, and was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1883.
The Appropriation Act 1876[18] (39 & 40 Vict. c. 60). This act received royal assent on 15 August 1876, and was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1883.
The Appropriation Act 1877[19] (40 & 41 Vict. c. 61). This act received royal assent on 14 August 1877, and was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1883.
The Appropriation Act 1878[20] (41 & 42 Vict. c. 65). This act received royal assent on 16 August 1878, and was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1883.
The Appropriation Act 1880[22] (43 Vict. c. 13). This act received royal assent on 24 March 1880, and was repealed by the First Schedule to the Statute Law Revision Act 1894.
The Appropriation Act 1880 (Session 2)[23] (43 & 44 Vict. c. 40). This act received royal assent on 7 September 1880, and was repealed by the First Schedule to the Statute Law Revision Act 1894.
The Appropriation Act 1881[24] (44 & 45 Vict. c. 56). This act received royal assent on 27 August 1881, and was repealed by the First Schedule to the Statute Law Revision Act 1894.
^The Law Commission. Statute Law Revision: Third Report. Draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill. Law Com 37. Cmnd 4546. HMSO. London. December 1970. Page 23.
^Raithby, The Statutes at Large, vol 20, p 149. See also pp 4, 5, 56 & 112.
^Glen. "Consolidated Fund Appropriation Act" in "Poor Law Legislation". The Union, Parish, and Public Health Officers' Pocket Almanac and Guide, for the Year of our Lord 1865. Knight & Co. London. 1865. pp 174 & 175.
^"Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) Act": Paterson (ed). The Practical Statutes of the Session 1864. John Crockford. London. 1864. p v.
^"Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) Bill". Index to Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, in the Sixth Session of the Eighteenth Parliament of the United Kingdom. 27° & 28° Victoria. 1864. ("72" is a misprint for "73").
^This short title was conferred on this act by section 8 of this act.
^For further commentary on this act, see "The Appropriation Act, 1870", Halsbury's Statutes of England, (The Complete Statutes of England), 1st Edition, vol 17: [1][2], p 500; and "The Appropriation Act, 1870", Halsbury's statutes of England, 2nd Edition, vol 22, p 761.
^This short title was conferred on this act by section 6 of this act.
^This short title was conferred on this act by section 7 of this act.
^This short title was conferred on this act by section 6 of this act.
^This short title was conferred on this act by section 6 of this act.
^This short title was conferred on this act by section 6 of this act.
^This short title was conferred on this act by section 6 of this act.
^This short title was conferred on this act by section 7 of this act.
^This short title was conferred on this act by section 7 of this act.
^This short title was conferred on this act by section 7 of this act.
^This short title was conferred on this act by section 6 of this act.
^This short title was conferred on this act by section 8 of this act.
^This short title was conferred on this act by section 7 of this act.
^This short title was conferred on this act by section 7 of this act.
^This short title was conferred on this act by section 7 of this act.
^See, for example, the Appropriation Act (Northern Ireland) 1923 (13 & 14 Geo. 5. c. 22 (N.I.)).
^"The Public Accounts Committee", p 13 (12 December 1984 et seq), Parliamentary Papers: House of Commons Bills and Papers and Command Papers, Volume 24, Session 6 November 1984 to 30 October 1985. The Appropriation (Northern Ireland) Order 2000 (SI 2000/742) (NI 1) is an example of an Appropriation Order in Council.
Bibliography
Bradley, A. W. & Ewing, K. D. (2003). Constitutional and Administrative Law. 13th ed. London: Pearson. pp. 202–203. ISBN 0582438071.
Further reading
Norman Wilding and Philip Laundy. "Appropriation Act". An Encyclopaedia of Parliament. Third Edition. Frederick A Praeger. New York and Washington. 1968. Pages 24 and 25. See also pages 3, 129, 167, 168, 250, 253, 254, 536, 596, 599, 601 and 685.
Will Bateman. Public Finance and Parliamentary Constitutionalism. Cambridge University Press. 2020. Page 31 et seq.
HM Treasury (2000). Government Accounting: A Guide on Accounting and Financial Procedures. Stationery Office Books. ISBN 0-11-702668-9.
External links
"Appropriation Act 2008". Office of Public Sector Information. Archived 7 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2008-12-04.