| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to make provision increasing the maximum capital of the Contingencies Fund for a temporary period. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 2020 c. 6 |
| Introduced by | Rishi Sunak,Chancellor of the Exchequer (Commons) Earl of Courtown,Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard (Lords) |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 25 March 2020 |
| Commencement | 25 March 2020 |
| Repealed | 1 April 2021 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amends | 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| Text of statute as originally enacted | |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 | |
TheContingencies Fund Act 2020 (c. 6) is anact of theParliament of the United Kingdom that was created to increase the maximum capital of the United Kingdom'scontingency fund from 2%, as set out in Section 1 of theContingencies Fund Act 1974, to 50%. It was introduced byChancellor of the ExchequerRishi Sunak in response to theCOVID-19 pandemic.
The Contingencies Fund was established in 1862 byHM Treasury. It originally consisted of a fixed amount of capital which was increased over time and by 1945 had reached £1.5 million. Before this legislation, theContingencies 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 theCOVID-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]
The bill was introduced in theCommons on 24 March 2020 and passed all stages in one day.[citation needed]
Shadow Chancellor of the ExchequerJohn McDonnell announced in theSecond Reading debate thatLabour would support the bill. In the same debate, SirEd Davey announced that theLiberal Democrats would also be supporting the bill.[2]
The bill wasnodded through all stages in both the Commons and the Lords without division.
Increases the limit from 2% to 50%, automatically expiring on 1 April 2021.
Though the Act was set to automatically expire, replacement legislation was introduced to Parliament in March 2021. TheContingencies Fund Act 2021 extended the limit increase for another year, but lowered it to 12%.
The full text ofContingencies Fund Act 2020 at Wikisource | This article about theCOVID-19 pandemic is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |
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