The Procedure Committee of the House of Commons is today calling
for the rapid establishment of a Budget Committee to properly
scrutinise Government spending plans.
Such a move would bring the UK into line with virtually every
other major democracy, and would ensure that spending plans can
be properly scrutinised before that money is spent.
The Committee notes the excellent work being carried out by the
Public Accounts Committee in “after the event” oversight of
spending on particular projects and programmes, and by the
Treasury Committee in investigating fiscal and financial issues
across its broad remit.
However there is currently no Commons Committee specifically
tasked with scrutinising spending proposals.
MPs currently sign off the Main Estimates—the Government’s
spending plans for the financial year—by passing Supply and
Appropriation Bills, after two days of debate on the spending
plans of up to four departments. These Bills pass without debate.
Although reforms recently
recommended by the Procedure Committee have allowed more
Members to apply for debates on the Estimates, and have broadened
the scope of those debates, the scrutiny these debates afford is
no substitute for a detailed examination of the Government’s
spending plans.
The Committee is convinced that the Commons needs a dedicated
Budget Committee, which would take a leading role in examining
the rationale behind decisions made during multi-annual Spending
Reviews, and would consistently monitor how those plans are being
implemented.
Today’s report also asks the House authorities to consider the
case for establishing a Commons Budget Office, to provide
specific support to any budget committee.
Chair of the Procedure Committee, OBE MP
commented: “The requirement for the House of
Commons to approve Government spending plans is a fundamental
constitutional principle.
“However MPs have, in the past week, signed off the
spending of over £300bn of taxpayer’s money with a cursory amount
of scrutiny.
“It is vital that the Government’s plans to spend
money can be properly scrutinised before that money is spent, so
the plans can be properly held to account by the National Audit
Office and the Public Accounts Committee.
“We ask whether the time has come to follow almost
every other major democracy in establishing a Budget Committee to
fulfil this vital task.
“The Committee stands ready to help the House in this
endeavour if – as we hope and expect – it so
wishes”.
The report will be made available on the Procedure Committee
website here from 00:01
on Tuesday 9th July.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
- Under
the present
system, the Government presents its expenditure plans
– as well as its proposals to raise revenue to fund them – to
the House of Commons. The House must give explicit approval to
both, a process which forms the basis of the Estimates cycle
and Budget cycle, which result in Supply & Appropriation
Bills and Finance Bills
- A range of
formats are used by different legislatures for a Budget
Committee, and today’s report does not specify which model should
be used.
- In its report
on Estimates, the Procedure Committee of the 2015-17 Parliament
found that the information contained in the Estimates documents
produced by Government departments was insufficient and unclear,
and that the Estimates timeline – whereby approval for the bulk
of Government money in any financial year occurs after that year
has begun – was unfit for purpose.
- House of
Commons Committees undertaking financial scrutiny are supported
by a small number of financial experts in the House of Commons
Scrutiny Unit.
