Consolidated Fund Act

A Consolidated Fund Act is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed to allow, like an Appropriation Act, the Treasury to issue funds out of 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 a preamble and then the enacting clause:

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 Her Majesty in this Session of Parliament:— Be it therefore 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:—

Until 2000 an older form of preamble was used:

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:—

If, as most of the Acts do, the legislation covers two fiscal years the legislation's first two sections will contain the amounts to be paid out of the Consolidated Fund for each particular financial year. The third section of the Act defines its short title. Typically two or three consolidated fund Acts are passed each calendar year.[1]

A Consolidated Fund Act normally becomes spent on the conclusion of the financial year to which it relates.[2] However, the Consolidated Fund Act 1816 is still in force, since it combined the consolidated funds of Great Britain and Ireland into one consolidated fund of the United Kingdom.[3]

References
  1. Bradley & Ewing (2003) pp202-203
  2. The Law Commission. Statute Law Revision: Third Report. Draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill. Law Com 37. Cmnd 4546. HMSO. London. December 1970. Page 23.
  3. Consolidated Fund Act 1816 as in force today (as of November 2020)

Bibliography
  • Bradley, A.W.; Ewing, K.D. (2003). Constitutional and Administrative Law (13th ed.). London: Pearson. pp. 202–203. ISBN 0-582-43807-1.
  • HM Treasury (2000). Government Accounting: A Guide on Accounting and Financial Procedures. London: Stationery Office Books. ISBN 0-11-702668-9.
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