United Kingdom budget

UK budget example: Pie chart of UK central government expenditure, 2009-10.

The United Kingdom budget is a typically annual budget set by HM Treasury for 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 George Osborne on 19 March 2014.

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 (since the Prime Minister must have a majority in the House of Commons to retain power).
• Governmental 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.
• 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]

Previous budgets

• 2013
• 2012
• 2011
• 2010 (June 'emergency')
• 2010 (March original)
• 2009
• 2008
• 2007
• United Kingdom budget 2007-08

See also

• Countries of the United Kingdom by GVA per capita
• United Kingdom national debt
• Budget Day
• Economy of the United Kingdom

References

United Kingdom budget By year 1909 1981 2007 2008 2009 March 2010 June 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Other Budget Day Government spending in the United Kingdom Money bill Office for Budget Responsibility Parliament Act 1911 Spending Review Category