Imprest Supply (First for 2020/21) Bill
2020 No 282-1

Imprest Supply (First for 2020/21) Bill

Government Bill

282—1

Explanatory note

General policy statement

Imprest supply is the statutory mechanism that allows Parliament to provide the Government with the authority to—

  • incur expenses and capital expenditure in advance of appropriation in an Appropriation Act; and

  • make capital injections in advance of authorisation under an Appropriation Act.

This Imprest Supply Bill will provide the sole financial authority from the start of the 2020/21 financial year until the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill is passed.

This Bill is repealed on the coming into force of the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill. Sections 4A and 12B of the Public Finance Act 1989 provide that appropriations for expenses and capital expenditure incurred, and authority for capital injections made, under the authority of this Bill must be sought in an Appropriation Act that comes into force on or before 30 June 2021. If this is not done, the expenses, capital expenditure, and capital injections will require validation in an Appropriation (Confirmation and Validation) Act in accordance with sections 26C and 26CA of the Public Finance Act 1989.

In this Bill, imprest is calculated separately for expenses and capital expenditure, subject to 2 exceptions. The imprest sought for expenses in this Bill covers the following capital expenditure to be incurred in advance of an appropriation that may include both expenses and capital expenditure:

  • capital expenditure to be incurred by an intelligence and security department:

  • non-departmental capital expenditure to be incurred in advance of a multi-category appropriation.

Accordingly, the capital expenditure described above is not covered by the imprest sought for capital expenditure in this Bill.

The amounts of imprest are calculated to provide sufficient authorisation for the period between—

  • the start of a financial year; and

  • the latest date on which the third reading of the main Appropriation Act for that financial year must be completed.

Accordingly, the amounts of imprest for expenses, capital expenditure, and capital injections in this Bill are calculated on the basis of one-quarter (3 months’ worth) of the relevant annual appropriations and authorisations for capital injections sought in the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill.

However, the amounts of imprest are larger than usual to account for both the Government’s fiscal response to, and the considerably heightened economic uncertainty resulting from, COVID-19. Responding to COVID-19 and its effects has required the Government to continue to make spending decisions after the contents of the Estimates for 2020/21 were finalised in early April. This spending has been charged against the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund and will be reflected in the Supplementary Estimates for 2020/21. Until then, authority for this spending needs to be provided by this Bill and subsequent Imprest Supply Bills (see the allowance relating to COVID-19 in each calculation below).

In addition, the amounts of imprest—

  • include a general contingency provision to cover risks that may eventuate. This amount is proportionate to previous years (as the COVID-19-related risk is captured in the allowance relating to COVID-19 in each calculation below):

  • are adjusted for additional potential imprest requirements, particularly to account for uneven timing of expenditure:

  • include an allowance for new multi-year appropriations in the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill.

Imprest sought for expenses

Imprest sought for expenses in this Bill covers the following appropriations:

  • appropriations for the following categories of expenses:

    • output expenses:

    • benefits or related expenses:

    • other expenses:

  • appropriations for expenses and capital expenditure to be incurred by an intelligence and security department:

  • multi-category appropriations.

The authority sought this year for expenses includes an allowance for upfront funding for Votes Business, Science, and Innovation, Revenue, Social Development, and Treaty Negotiations.

The amount of authority for expenses has been calculated as follows:

One-quarter (3 months’ worth) of total expense annual appropriations of $94,621 million (including expenses and capital expenditure appropriations for intelligence and security departments, and multi-category appropriations) in the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill$23,700 million
Allowance for new multi-year appropriations included in the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill to the extent they relate to 2020/21$35 million
Allowance for 2020/21 COVID-19-related expenses not reflected in the Estimates for 2020/21 and, accordingly, not in the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill$8,000 million
Allowance for upfront funding for Votes with uneven timing$4,945 million
General contingency provision for expenses in excess, or outside the scope, of the expense appropriations in the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill$3,320 million
Total imprest for expenses$40,000 million

Imprest sought for capital expenditure

Imprest sought for capital expenditure in this Bill covers the appropriations for capital expenditure. It does not cover capital expenditure included in the definition of expenses for the purposes of this Bill (see clause 5(1)).

The authority sought this year for capital expenditure includes an allowance for upfront funding for Votes Business, Science, and Innovation, Defence, Finance, Health, and Revenue.

The amount of authority for capital expenditure has been calculated as follows:

One-quarter (3 months’ worth) of total capital expenditure annual appropriations of $7,204 million in the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill$1,800 million
Allowance for new multi-year appropriations included in the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill to the extent they relate to 2020/21$270 million
Allowance for 2020/21 COVID-19-related capital expenditure not reflected in the Estimates for 2020/21 and, accordingly, not in the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill$2,400 million
Allowance for upfront funding for Votes with uneven timing$5,165 million
General contingency provision for capital expenditure in excess, or outside the scope, of the capital expenditure appropriations in the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill$865 million
Total imprest for capital expenditure$10,500 million

Imprest sought for capital injections

Imprest sought for capital injections covers authorisations for capital injections to be made to departments (other than intelligence and security departments) or Offices of Parliament. This Bill does not authorise imprest supply for capital injections to intelligence and security departments because section 12A(1) of the Public Finance Act 1989 does not apply to intelligence and security departments.

The authority sought this year for capital injections includes an allowance for upfront funding for the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment and the New Zealand Customs Service.

The amount of authority for capital injections has been calculated as follows:

One-quarter (3 months’ worth) of total capital injections of $1,796 million authorised under the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill$450 million
Allowance for 2020/21 COVID-19-related capital injections not reflected in the Estimates for 2020/21 and, accordingly, not in the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill$515 million
Allowance for upfront funding for capital injections to departments with uneven timing$330 million
General contingency provision for capital injections in excess of the capital injections authorised under the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill$405 million
Total imprest for capital injections$1,700 million

Departmental disclosure statement

A departmental disclosure statement is not required for this Bill.

Clause by clause analysis

Clause 1 is the Title clause.

Clause 2 states that the Bill comes into force on 1 July 2020.

Clause 3 provides for the repeal of the Bill on the coming into force of the main Appropriation Act for the 2020/21 financial year.

Clause 4 sets out the purposes of the Bill.

Clause 5 is an interpretation provision.

Clause 6 seeks authority to incur expenses of up to $40,000 million in advance of appropriation. For the purposes of this Bill, expenses includes the following capital expenditure to be incurred in advance of an appropriation that may include both expenses and capital expenditure:

  • capital expenditure to be incurred by an intelligence and security department:

  • non-departmental capital expenditure to be incurred in advance of a multi-category appropriation.

Clause 7 seeks authority to incur capital expenditure of up to $10,500 million in advance of appropriation. Clause 7 does not apply to capital expenditure that is included as expenses for the purposes of this Bill.

Section 4A of the Public Finance Act 1989 provides that all expenses and capital expenditure incurred under clauses 6 and 7 must be appropriated in an Appropriation Act that comes into force on or before 30 June 2021.

Clause 8 seeks authority to make capital injections of up to $1,700 million in advance of authorisation under an Appropriation Act.

Section 12B of the Public Finance Act 1989 provides that all capital injections made under clause 8 must be authorised under an Appropriation Act that comes into force on or before 30 June 2021.

Hon Grant Robertson

Imprest Supply (First for 2020/21) Bill

Government Bill

282—1

The Parliament of New Zealand enacts as follows:

1 Title

This Act is the Imprest Supply (First for 2020/21) Act 2020.

2 Commencement

This Act comes into force on 1 July 2020.

3 Repeal of this Act

This Act is repealed on the coming into force of the main Appropriation Act for the 2020/21 year.

4 Purposes

The purposes of this Act are—

(a)

to authorise expenses and capital expenditure to be incurred by the Crown and Offices of Parliament during the 2020/21 year in advance of appropriation in an Appropriation Act; and

(b)

to authorise capital injections to be made to departments and Offices of Parliament during the 2020/21 year in advance of authorisation under an Appropriation Act.

5 Interpretation

(1)

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

2020/21 year means the financial year ending with 30 June 2021

capital expenditure has the meaning given to it by section 2(1) of the Public Finance Act 1989, but excludes capital expenditure that is included in the definition of expenses in this subsection

department has the meaning given to it by section 2(1) of the Public Finance Act 1989, but excludes an intelligence and security department

expenses has the meaning given to it by section 2(1) of the Public Finance Act 1989, but also includes—

(a)

capital expenditure incurred by an intelligence and security department; and

(b)

non-departmental capital expenditure incurred in advance of a multi-category appropriation.

(2)

Terms or expressions used and not defined in this Act but defined in the Public Finance Act 1989 have, in this Act, the same meanings as in the Public Finance Act 1989.

6 Authority to incur expenses

(1)

Expenses may, during the 2020/21 year, be incurred in advance of appropriation in relation to any Vote.

(2)

Expenses incurred under subsection (1) must not exceed in the aggregate the sum of $40,000 million.

7 Authority to incur capital expenditure

(1)

Capital expenditure may, during the 2020/21 year, be incurred in advance of appropriation in relation to any Vote.

(2)

Capital expenditure incurred under subsection (1) must not exceed in the aggregate the sum of $10,500 million.

8 Authority to make capital injections

(1)

Capital injections may, during the 2020/21 year, be made to any department or Office of Parliament in advance of authorisation under an Appropriation Act.

(2)

Capital injections made under subsection (1) must not exceed in the aggregate the sum of $1,700 million.