Contingencies Fund Act 2020

Contingencies Fund Act 2020
Act of Parliament
	Contingencies Fund Act 1974
Relates to	Miscellaneous Financial Provisions Act 1946; Coronavirus Act 2020
History of passage through Parliament
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Contingencies Fund Act 2020 (c. 6) is an

Contingencies Fund Act 1974, to 50%. It was introduced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

.

Background

The Contingencies Fund was established in 1862 by

Contingencies Fund Act 1974 required that the permanent capital of the fund not exceed 2% of the authorised supply expenditure of the previous financial year. The fund provides cash loans to government departments.^[1]

Due to the

COVID-19 outbreak, this legislation raises the limit to 50%. This allowed government departments to be funded for extra spending prior to the next set of spending estimates coming before Parliament. Once the spending is approved the contingency fund would be repaid.^{[citation needed}

]

Passage through Parliament

The bill was introduced in the Commons on 24 March 2020 and passed all stages in one day.^{[citation needed]}

Second Reading debate that Labour would support the bill. In the same debate, Sir Ed Davey announced that the Liberal Democrats would also be supporting the bill.^[2]

The bill was nodded through all stages in both the Commons and the Lords without division.

Provisions

Section 1

Increases the limit from 2% to 50%, automatically expiring on 1 April 2021.

Expiry and replacement

Though the Act was set to automatically expire, replacement legislation was introduced to Parliament in March 2021. The Contingencies Fund Act 2021 extended the limit increase for another year, but lowered it to 12%.

References

^ HM Treasury. Contingencies Fund Act 2020: Explanatory Notes.
^ "Contingencies Fund Bill: 24 Mar 2020: House of Commons debates". TheyWorkForYou. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.

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[1] HM Treasury. Contingencies Fund Act 2020: Explanatory Notes.

[2] "Contingencies Fund Bill: 24 Mar 2020: House of Commons debates". TheyWorkForYou. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.

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