Department of Finance authorises cash and resources limits for Departments

The Department of Finance (DoF) Permanent Secretary has today written to Departments, under Section 59 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, and Section 7 of the Government Resources and Accounts Act (NI) 2001 to set out the cash and resources limits for Departments.

This is necessary as, in the absence of a Budget Act being passed for the 2022-23 year, a number of Departments are reaching the limit of the cash that had been authorised by the Assembly in the Vote on Account in March. This will ensure that services can continue to be delivered.

For most departments this new authorisation has been set at approximately 60% of Departments’ provision for the 2021-22 financial year. This will be reviewed at the end of October 2022.  

These contingency arrangements are no substitute for an agreed Budget and while Departments will have legal cover to continue to spend on delivering services, they will still not have the certainty that an agreed Budget would provide.

Notes to editors: 

1. Media enquiries should be addressed to the Department of Finance Press Office at dof.pressoffice@finance-ni.gov.uk
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3. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.

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