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UK economy
The Government announced it would introduce a Fiscal Responsibility Bill in the 2009 Pre-Budget Report. The Bill achieved Royal Assent and became an Act of Parliament on 10th February 2010. It is now known as the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2010.
The Act requires the Government to set out at all times a legislative fiscal plan for delivering sound public finances, to be approved by Parliament, and places a binding duty on the Government to meet that plan.
The Act sets out the Government’s first legislative fiscal plan, the Fiscal Consolidation Plan (FCP). It also enables the Government to add further duties to the FCP through secondary legislation.
The FCP extends from 2009-10 to 2015-16, requiring that the Government:
These measures provide a specific focus for Parliamentary accountability and represent a significant evolution of the extent to which the Government is held to account for its medium-term fiscal policy.
As announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Second Reading debate on 5th January 2010, the Treasury has made available to Parliament a draft of the revised Code for Fiscal Stability.
The Code has been updated to reflect the provisions in the Fiscal Responsibility Act. A revised version will be formally laid before Parliament shortly.
