Consolidated Fund Act

A Consolidated Fund Act is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed to allow, like an Appropriation Act, the Treasury to issue funds out of the Consolidated Fund. ^[1]

Structure

The typical structure of such an act begins with the long title, which defines which financial years the act applies to. This is followed by a preamble and then the enacting clause: ^[2]

Whereas the Commons of the United Kingdom in Parliament assembled have resolved to authorise the use of resources and the issue of sums out of the Consolidated Fund towards making good the supply which they have granted to His Majesty in this Session of Parliament:—

Be it therefore enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

Until 2000 and the passing of the Consolidated Fund Act 2001, an older form of preamble was used: ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Most Gracious Sovereign,

WE, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of the United Kingdom in Parliament assembled, towards making good the supply which we have cheerfully granted to Your Majesty in this Session of Parliament, have resolved to grant unto Your Majesty the sums hereinafter mentioned; and do therefore most humbly beseech Your Majesty that it may be enacted and be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

If, as most of the acts do, the legislation covers two fiscal years the legislation's first two sections will contain the amounts to be paid out of the Consolidated Fund for each particular financial year. The third section of the act defines its short title. Typically two or three consolidated fund acts are passed each calendar year. ^[1]

Repeals

Consolidated Fund Act 1816 ^[a]

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to unite and consolidate into One Fund all the Public Revenues of Great Britain and Ireland, and to provide for the Application thereof to the General Service of the United Kingdom.
Citation	56 Geo. 3. c. 98
Territorial extent	United Kingdom
Dates
Royal assent	1 July 1816
Other legislation
Amended by	Statute Law Revision Act 1873 Ministers of the Crown Act 1937 National Loans Act 1968 Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1978
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
Text of the Consolidated Fund Act 1816 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

A Consolidated Fund Act normally becomes spent on the conclusion of the financial year to which it relates. ^[5] However, the Consolidated Fund Act 1816 ^[a] (56 Geo. 3. c. 98) is still in force, since it combined the consolidated funds of Great Britain and Ireland into one consolidated fund of the United Kingdom. ^[6]

List

Further information: List of Consolidated Fund Acts from the 19th century and List of Consolidated Fund Acts from the 20th century

Consolidated Fund (Permanent Charges Redemption) Acts

Consolidated Fund (Permanent Charges Redemption) Act 1873 [b]
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make provision for the Redemption of divers permanent Charges on the Consolidated Fund and on the Votes of Parliament.
Citation	36 & 37 Vict. c. 57
Territorial extent	United Kingdom
Dates
Royal assent	28 July 1873
Commencement	28 July 1873 [c]
Repealed	22 July 2004
Other legislation
Amended by	Consolidated Fund (Permanent Charges Redemption) Act 1883
Repealed by	Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2004
Relates to	Constitutional Reform Act 2005
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
Text of the Consolidated Fund (Permanent Charges Redemption) Act 1873 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

Consolidated Fund (Permanent Charges Redemption) Act 1883
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to amend the Consolidated Fund (Permanent Charges Redemption) Act 1873.
Citation	46 & 47 Vict. c. 1
Territorial extent	United Kingdom
Dates
Royal assent	20 March 1883
Commencement	20 March 1883 [c]
Repealed	22 July 2004
Other legislation
Amends	Consolidated Fund (Permanent Charges Redemption) Act 1873
Amended by	Statute Law Revision Act 1898
Repealed by	Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2004
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
Text of the Consolidated Fund (Permanent Charges Redemption) Act 1883 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Consolidated Fund (Permanent Charges Redemption) Acts 1873 and 1883 was the collective title of the Consolidated Fund (Permanent Charges Redemption) Act 1873 (36 & 37 Vict. c. 57) and the Consolidated Fund (Permanent Charges Redemption) Act 1883 (46 & 47 Vict. c. 1). ^[7]

Northern Ireland

Consolidated Fund Measure (Northern Ireland) 1974
Act of Parliament
Northern Ireland Assembly (1973)
Long title	A Measure to apply certain sums out of the Consolidated Fund to the service of the years ending on 31st March 1974 and 31st March 1975.
Citation	1974 c. 1 (N.I.)
Territorial extent	Northern Ireland
Dates
Royal assent	26 March 1974

The Consolidated Fund Measure (Northern Ireland) 1974 (c. 1 (NI)) was a measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly. See further section 5(1) of the Appropriation (Northern Ireland) Order 1974 (SI 1974/1266) (NI 1). ^[8]

Notes

1. The citation of this act by this short title was authorised by section 1 of, and the first schedule to, the Short Titles Act 1896. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
2. Section 1.
3. The Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793

References

1. Bradley & Ewing (2003) pp202-203
2. "Enacting formula - Erskine May - UK Parliament". erskinemay.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
3. "Consolidated Fund Act 2000", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 2000 c. 3
4. "Consolidated Fund Act 2001", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 2001 c. 1
5. The Law Commission. Statute Law Revision: Third Report. Draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill. Law Com 37. Cmnd 4546. HMSO. London. December 1970. Page 23.
6. Consolidated Fund Act 1816 as in force today (as of November 2020)
7. The Consolidated Fund (Permanent Charges Redemption) Act 1883 (46 & 47 Vict. c. 1), section 1
8. Measures and Orders in Council 1974, pp 1 & 28. Parliamentary Papers (House of Commons and Command), Volume 17. Northern Ireland Assembly, Official Report of Debates, vol 2, cols 1415, 1430 to 1446, 1466 to 1468, 1480, 1481, 1488, 1489. "Northern Ireland Measures" (1974) 25 Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 196. Hadfield, The Constitution of Northern Ireland, 1989, p 117. Bleakley, Faulkner: Conflict and Consent in Irish Politics, 1974, p 194.

Bibliography

• Bradley, A.W.; Ewing, K.D. (2003). Constitutional and Administrative Law (13th ed.). London: Pearson. pp. 202–203. ISBN   0-582-43807-1.
• HM Treasury (2000). Government Accounting: A Guide on Accounting and Financial Procedures. London: Stationery Office Books. ISBN   0-11-702668-9.
• Norman Wilding and Philip Laundy. "Consolidated Fund Acts". An Encyclopaedia of Parliament. Third Edition. Frederick A Praeger. New York and Washington. 1968. Pages 167 and 168. See also pages 24, 25, 255, 264, 536 and 596.
• Will Bateman. Public Finance and Parliamentary Constitutionalism. Cambridge University Press. 2020. Page 30 et seq.
• Edward Hamilton, "Ways and Means Advances", 1893, reproduced in Wormell (ed). National Debt in Britain, 1850-1930. Routledge. 1999. Volume 6. Pages 117 & 118 to 121. See also pages 83 and 202.

External links

• "Consolidated Fund Act 2007". Office of Public Sector Information. Retrieved 3 March 2008.