The Northern Ireland Budget (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) Bill 2017-19 was introduced to the House of Commons on 28 February 2019. The text of the Bill and Explanatory Notes are provided on the Bill pages on the Parliamentary website.
The Bill deals with matters arising from the continued absence of a Northern Ireland Executive, and the consequent inability of the Northern Ireland Assembly to pass legislation to provide the authority for departmental expenditure following the Assembly election on 2 March 2017.
It authorises Northern Ireland departments and certain other bodies to incur expenditure and use resources for the financial year ending on 31 March 2019, as detailed in the corresponding Spring Supplementary Estimates. It also provides for a “vote on account” to allow those departments and public bodies to continue to deliver public services to deliver services for part of the 2019-20 financial year.
This Bill does not set a Budget for Northern Ireland, either for 2018/19 (as this is covered by the existing Northern Ireland Budget Act 2018) or for 2019/20. New legislation from either a restored Northern Ireland Executive or from Westminster would be required to implement this.