Your World of Legal Intelligence
 United Kingdom | +44 (0) 20 7284 8080

Departmental Financial Control

Document Cited in Related
Published date01 June 1957
AuthorA. S. Marre
Date01 June 1957
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1957.tb01189.x
Departmental Financial Control
By
A.
S.
MARRE
Mr. Marre is Under-Secretary
for
Finance and Accountant General
in
rhe Ministry
of
Health.
Parliament, Treasury and Department
HE
main objects of our system for the control of Government expenditure,
T
viewed as a whole, are
:
(a)
To achieve, between the different services for which the Government
accepts responsibility, a reasonably fair distribution of the total sum which
the country can afford to devote to Government expenditure.
(b)
To ensure that the money
so
distributed is used for the purposes for which
it was intended and in accordance with the statutory authority which
exists for the expenditure.
(c)
To try to secure full value for the money which is distributed.
Major issues
of
government policy arise in connection with the first of
these objects. How much
can
the country afford for Exchequer expenditure
each year
?
If, in the Government’s view, it can afford substantially less than
the total which
all
Departments have between them suggested will be required
to implement present policies, how is the gap to be bridged (assuming it
cannot be fully bridged by proper and reasonable economies in the admini-
stration and operation of the services)
?
Have major changes of policies to
be considered, and if
so
where should they be made
?
Political considerations
full facts have to be put before Ministers, the pros and cons of possible
alternatives have got to be weighed, the need for legislative action, if existing
powers are insufficient, examined, and the probable reactions of Members
of Parliament and of the voters taken into account.
All
this
means high-level
deliberations. Each Department
will
fully brief their
own
Minister
with
the
detailed arguments for the money which they consider they require, and for
and against any changes of policy. The Treasury will present to the
Chancellor, and if need be to Ministers collectively, a balanced picture covering
all
Departments. Ministers collectively will then decide what is to be done.
Ministers having decided upon the policies to be followed, the three
separate agencies-Parliament, the Treasury, and the Department itself-
with responsibility for financial control, have their separate parts to play.
This paper is concerned
only
with the Departmental aspect, but
this
cannot
be looked at completely in isolation. The different controls exercised by the
different agencies react closely upon each other. Thus, Parliament has to
vote the annual Estimates
j
before that stage is reached the Estimates have
to be prepared and submitted to Parliament-by the Financial Secretary to
the Treasury (in the case of the Civil Estimates)-after the Treasury have
scrutinised and discussed the Estimates prepared by the different Depart-
ments
;
and further back still, the finance branches of the different Depart-
ments have had to prepare their own proposals for the Estimates, usually
169

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT