The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, delivered a spending review statement on 25 November 2020. The Government said the review’s priorities were “to support the Government’s response to Covid-19, invest in the UK’s recovery and deliver on promises to the British people”. Alongside the spending review, the Office for Budget Responsibility set out its latest forecasts for the economy and for the public finances.
Documents to download
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Budget Responsibility and National Audit (Fiscal Mandate) Bill (151 KB, PDF)
The Budget Responsibility and National Audit (Fiscal Mandate) Bill [HL] is a private member’s bill introduced by Baroness Kramer (Liberal Democrat). The Bill received its first reading in the House of Lords on 24 May 2016, and is scheduled to have its second reading on 9 September 2016.
The Bill would amend the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011. The Act provided that the Treasury must prepare a Charter for Budget Responsibility and that the Charter must include a fiscal mandate to show how the Treasury’s objectives, in relation to fiscal policy, would be attained. The Bill contains two clauses. Clause 1 would provide that, in preparing the fiscal mandate under section 1(2)(b) of the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011, the Treasury must have regard to:
- the need for continued investment in infrastructure;
- the need to ensure that the fiscal mandate does not have a substantially negative impact on intergenerational fairness; and
- the need to ensure that the economy of the United Kingdom remains competitive.
Clause 1 of the Bill would also ensure that, in considering the above provisions, the Treasury “must consult independent experts”. Clause 1 states that the meaning of “infrastructure” would be taken in accordance with section 1(2) of the Infrastructure (Financial Assistance) Act 2012; therefore “water, electricity, gas, telecommunications, sewerage or other services; railway facilities (including rolling stock), roads or other transport facilities; health or educational facilities; court or prison facilities, and housing”. Clause 1 defines the term “intergenerational fairness” as “the overall wealth of future generations”. Clause 2 states that the legislation would be applicable to the whole of the United Kingdom.
Related Links
Documents to download
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Budget Responsibility and National Audit (Fiscal Mandate) Bill (151 KB, PDF)
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Catch up on economics articles you may have missed from September and October 2020. This month we look at household savings during the Covid-19 pandemic, and whether the furlough scheme is discriminatory.
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The House of Lords is scheduled to debate four statutory instruments relating to the financial services and markets sector on 10 November 2020. Three of them relate to the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. The House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee has not raised concerns about any of the regulations. The House of Commons is yet to consider them.
