REVIEW OF VOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21175, 6 May 1932, Page 11

REVIEW OF VOTES.

CONTROL BY PARLIAMENT. MORE AUTHORITY PROPOSED. REDUCING SEPARATE ACCOUNTS. [BY TET.EGISAPIT. —SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON. Thursday. The abolition of statutory appropriations and separate accounts is a subject dealt with ir; the first part of the Finance Bill. The steps taken are in line with the recommendations on the subject made in the interim report of the National Expenditure Commission.

Permanent appropriations relate to permanent charges on the Consolidated Fund imposed by special Acts of Parliament. They are not voted annually by Parliament, and except that they are part of the Consolidated Fund, of which details are printed in the annual estimates, they are not examined by tho Public Accounts Committee or voted in Committee of Supply. The present method of setting forth estimates of public expenditure to bo provided from the annual revenue of the Stato does not reveal the whole position under tho most convenient headings, states an official explanation of the purposes of this part of tho bill. Certain permanent charges should be shown within the votes of (he relative departments, as for instance, grants to the New Zealand University and affiliated colleges or for university and national scholarships, which together amount to £125,345. These ate part of the annual State expenditure on education, and should be shown in direct relation with tho services of the Education Department. Agreement of Experts.

Sir Otto Nicmeyer had expressed the opinion that ii large number of the Stale financial services, for example, pensions, highways expenditure and subsidies now provided by special appropriations, would be more suitably brought to the annual notice of Parliament by means of votes, | and in that Sir Otto agreed with tho Controller and Auditor-General. Comparison with tho civil estimates of the British Government showed, for instance, that although tho fate of old-age pensions at Home was fixed by Statute, the amount payable for pensions was voted annually on tho Estimates. Jt is considered that, with certain exceptions, such as tho salaries of judges, the Controller and Auditor-General, etc., which should not be subject to political pressure, and a few other small items which do not readily lend themselves to votes, the. separate provisions whereby this special expenditure is at present appropriated should bo repealed, and that tho estimated expenditure for each service should he included by special items in the vote of the relative department, adds the official statement, it is not intended that any rates of pensions, subsidies and the like that are already provided by Statute should be altered, but simply that the estimated expenditure under (hose enactments should be subject to annual review by Parliament. Frequent Borrowing Needed.

As a result of the present system of accounts, the Treasury frequently finds it, necessary to borrow money to get credit in its ledger for one special account. As an instance, it was necessary recently to borrow £200.000 in London at short notice, even although the money was not immediately required and there was more than sufficient cash in the Public Account in the bank.

Taking all the items together, the Treasury can work on a smaller total cash balance, while the individuality of the separate accounts will be preserved in tlie ledgers, and tho present method of publishing separate balance-sheets and revenue accounts every year showing the results of the operations of each scheme will be continued. A saving will be mado in regard to interest and in the clerical work of the department. A perusal of individual clauses shows that the section operates from April 1 last. There is a saving of the rights of lenders in certain loan authorities which are being repealed. In numerous cases in the past it has been the practice to obtain special borrowing authorities for certain works, either by means of an annual borrowing authority of a fixed sum or by specifying the total amount which may be borrowed over a period of years. Borrowing Authorities Repealed.

It is considered that in place of these separate borrowing authorities in special Acts, it is preferable to carry out, as far as possible, the entile loan programme under the main annual borrowing authority and in this part of the bill, in numerous cases, the existing borrowing authorities are being repealed, provision being made in this clause for the saving of the rights of lenders in respect of moneys already borrowed under such authorities.

In the clause dealing directly with the alteration of permanent appropriations to annual votes, it is provided that the Minister of Finance may authorise appropriations for the first three months of this financial year, amounting to onefourth of the moneys expended for similar purposes last year. Authority is given for increasing unauthorised expenditure, for purposes other than working railways, from £150.000 to £250,000. The following separate accounts are abolished: —General Purposes llclief, Hauraki Plains Settlement, Howard Estate, Hunter Soldiers' Assistance Trust, Hutt Valley Land Settlement, Mining Advances, Nauru and Ocean Islands, Rangitaiki Land and Drainage, and the Westport Harbour.