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Introduction
- Appropriations are the basis on which Parliament authorises the executive government to incur expenses and capital expenditure. Without Parliamentary authority the government has no authorisation to spend public money and therefore cannot govern. As such, appropriations are an important aspect of both the constitutional framework of New Zealand and the state sector management system.
- Rules for appropriations are outlined in the Public Finance Act 1989 (PFA 1989). The Act prescribes that each appropriation must have four dimensions - type, amount, scope and period. Pages 5-13 discuss each dimension and provide users with information to make sure appropriations they administer are legally robust and achieve the intended approvals.
- Appropriation Acts must be approved by Parliament and are subject to a process of Parliamentary scrutiny. Page 14-15 details the parliamentary process for approving appropriations.
- Some provision is available to Ministers and departments to amend appropriations to adapt to changing circumstances. This is done through the granting of Imprest Supply, the baseline update process and also provisions to incur expenditure without appropriation in emergency situations. Page 16 discusses these provisions.
- If a situation exists where public money is spent without an appropriation, or not in accordance with the approved dimensions of an appropriation, a situation of unappropriated expenditure exists. Unappropriated expenditure is unlawful and needs to be remedied. Pages 17-18 discuss unappropriated expenditure and the available remedies.
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