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EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - LONG TITLE

An Act to amend the Law applicable to the Exchequer and
Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland, and to make provision with
respect to the Audit of the Accounts of that Fund, the Receipt,
Custody, and Issue of Public Moneys, and the Powers, Duties, Tenure
of Office and Salary of the Comptroller and Auditor-General for
Northern Ireland.
[4th October 1921]
COURSE OF THE EXCHEQUERPayment of gross revenues into Exchequer and
rendering of daily returns.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 1

1. The gross revenues of every Department shall, after deduction of
repayments and discounts, be paid ... to an account to be called
"the account of the Exchequer of Northern Ireland," at such Bank as
may be prescribed for that purpose (in this Act referred to as
"the Exchequer Bank"), and all other public moneys payable to the
... Exchequer shall be paid to the same account; and accounts of
all such payments shall be rendered to the Comptroller and
Auditor-General and to the Ministry of Finance daily ...

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 2
Formation of one general fund in Bank applicable to Exchequer
issues.

2. All moneys paid to the account of the ... Exchequer shall be
considered as forming, in the books of the Exchequer Bank, one
general fund, being the Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland; and
all orders directed by the Ministry of Finance to the Exchequer
Bank for issues out of credits to be granted by the Comptroller
and Auditor-General, as hereinafter provided, for the public service,
shall be satisfied out of the Consolidated Fund; and with a view
to economise the public balances, the Ministry of Finance shall
restrict the sums to be issued or transferred from time to time to
the credit of accounts of [Departments] at any prescribed bank, as
hereinafter provided, to such total sums as that Ministry may
consider necessary for conducting the current payments for the public
service entrusted to such [Departments]; and the said [Departments]
may consider the sums so issued or transferred to their accounts as
constituting part of their general drawing balance, applicable to the
payment of all the services for which they are accountable, but
such sums shall be carried in the books of [such Departments] to
the credit of the respective services for which the same may be
issued, as specified in such orders:

Provided always, that this enactment shall not be construed to
empower the Ministry of Finance or any authority to direct the
payment, by any [such Department], of expenditure not sanctioned by
any Act whereby services are or may be charged on the Consolidated
Fund, or by a vote of the House of Commons, or by an Act for
the appropriation of the supplies annually granted by Parliament.

S.3 rep. by 1955 c.19 (NI) s.27 sch.4

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 4
Credits services charged on Consolidated Fund.

4. The Comptroller and Auditor-General shall grant to the Ministry
of Finance, from time to time, on requisitions of that Ministry, if
satisfied of the correctness thereof, credits on the account of the
... Exchequer, for services payable under any Act out of the
Consolidated Fund ...; and the issues or transfers of moneys
required from time to time by the [Departments] to enable them to
make the payments entrusted to them shall be made out of such
credits on orders issued to the Exchequer Bank, signed by one of
the secretaries of the Ministry of Finance, or in their absence by
such officer as that Ministry may from time to time appoint to
that duty, and in all such orders the services for which the
issues may be authorised shall be set forth.

A daily account of all issues or transfers made from the account
of the ... Exchequer, in pursuance of such orders, shall be
transmitted by the Exchequer Bank to the Comptroller and
Auditor-General and to the Ministry of Finance.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 5
Order of Governor for issue of sums granted for expenses of
specified public services.

5. When any sums of money shall have been granted to His Majesty
by a resolution of the House of Commons, or by any Act of
Parliament, to defray expenses for any specified public services, it
shall be lawful for the [Governor of Northern Ireland] on behalf of
His Majesty, from time to time, by order countersigned by the
Minister of Finance, to authorise and require the Ministry of
Finance to issue, out of the credits to be granted to that
Ministry on the account of the ... Exchequer as hereinafter
provided, the sums which may be required from time to time to
defray such expenses, not exceeding the amount of the sums so voted
or granted.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 6
Credits for ways and means granted to make good supplies and issues
to Departments.

6. When any ways and means shall have been granted by Parliament
to make good the supplies granted to His Majesty by a resolution
of the House of Commons, or by any Act of Parliament, the
Comptroller and Auditor-General shall grant to the Ministry of
Finance, on the requisition of that Ministry, a credit or credits
on the account of the ... Exchequer, ..., not exceeding in the
whole the amount of the ways and means so granted. Out of the
credits so granted to the Ministry of Finance issues or transfers
shall be made to [Departments] from time to time on orders issued
to the ... Exchequer Bank, signed by one of the secretaries of
that Ministry, or in their absence, by such officer as that
Ministry may from time to time appoint to that duty; and the
services or votes on account of which the issues or transfers may
be authorised shall be set forth in such orders.

A daily account of all issues or transfers made from the account
of the ... Exchequer in pursuance of such orders shall be
transmitted by the Exchequer Bank to the Comptroller and
Auditor-General and to the Ministry of Finance.

Determination by Ministry of Finance of accounts to be deemed public
accounts.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 7

7. The Ministry of Finance may from time to time [determine] at
what banks [Departments] shall keep the public moneys entrusted to
them, and what accounts ... opened in the names of public officers
... in the books of any bank shall be deemed public accounts; and
on the death, resignation, or removal of any such public officers
... the balances remaining at the credit of such accounts shall,
upon the appointment of their successors, unless otherwise directed
by law, vest in and be transferred to the public accounts of such
successors at any such bank, and shall not, in the event of the
death of any such public officers ..., constitute assets of the
deceased, or be in any manner subject to the control of their
legal representatives.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 8
Consolidation of public accounts at bank.

8. It shall be lawful for the Ministry of Finance, whenever that
Ministry shall consider it for the advantage of the public service,
to direct that the accounts of any public officer or Department,
which by any Act are required to be kept under separate heads at
any bank, shall be consolidated in such manner as that Ministry may
judge most convenient for the public service.

S.9 rep. by 1947 c.5 (NI) s.11(3) sch.

Preparation and audit for Parliament of annual accounts of issues
for Consolidated Fund services.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 10

10. The Ministry of Finance shall cause an account to be prepared
and transmitted to the Comptroller and Auditor-General for examination
on or before [the thirty-first day of July] in every year, showing
the issues made from the Consolidated Fund in the financial year
ended on the thirty-first day of March preceding, for services
charged directly on the Consolidated Fund; and the Comptroller and
Auditor-General shall certify and report upon the same with reference
to the Acts of Parliament under the authority of which such issues
may have been directed; and such accounts and reports shall be laid
before the House of Commons by the Ministry of Finance on or
before [the fifteenth day of November] in every year, if Parliament
be then sitting, and if not sitting, then within one week after
Parliament shall be next assembled.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 11
Preparation for Parliament of annual accounts of the appropriation of
public moneys.

11. On or before the days respectively specified in the Schedule to
this Act, accounts of the appropriation of the several supply grants
comprised in the Appropriation Act of each year shall be prepared
by the several Departments, and be transmitted for examination to
the Comptroller and Auditor-General and to the Ministry of Finance,
and when certified and reported upon they shall be laid before the
House of Commons; and such accounts shall be called the
"Appropriation Accounts" of the moneys expended for the services to
which they may respectively relate. The Appropriation Accounts shall
be prepared and rendered to the Comptroller and Auditor-General by
the prescribed Departments, and the Comptroller and Auditor-General
shall certify and report upon such accounts, and the reports thereon
shall be signed by him:

Provided always, and it is the intention of this Act, that the
Department charged with the expenditure of any vote under the
authority of the Ministry of Finance shall be prescribed as the
Department to prepare the Appropriation Account thereof.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 12
Description of account.

12. An Appropriation Account of supply grants shall exhibit on the
charge side thereof the sums appropriated by Parliament for the
services of the financial year to which the account relates, and on
the discharge side thereof the sums which may have actually come in
course of payment within the same period. No advance, of the
application of which an account may not have been rendered to and
allowed by the accounting Department, shall be included on the
discharge side of the account.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 13
Balance sheet or statement showing disposition of balances.

13. The Department charged with the duty of preparing the
Appropriation Account of a grant shall, if required to do so by
the Comptroller and Auditor-General, transmit to him, together with
the annual Appropriation Account of such grant, a balance sheet so
prepared as to show the debtor and creditor balances in the ledgers
of that Department on the day when the said Appropriation Account
was closed, and to verify the balances appearing upon the annual
Appropriation Account:

Provided always, that the Comptroller and Auditor-General may, if he
thinks fit, require the said Department to transmit to him in lieu
of such balance sheet a certified statement showing the actual
disposition of the balances appearing upon the annual Appropriation
Account on the last day of the period of such account.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 14
Appropriation Account to be accompanied by explanatory statement.

14. Every Appropriation Account, when rendered to the Comptroller and
Auditor-General, shall be accompanied by an explanation showing how
the balances on the grants included in the previous account have
been adjusted, and shall also contain an explanatory statement of
any excess of expenditure over the grants included in such account;
and such statement, as well as the Appropriation Account, shall be
signed by the Department.[

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 15
Examination of Appropriation Accounts.

15. Every Appropriation Account shall be examined by the Comptroller
and Auditor-General on behalf of the House of Commons, and in the
examination of such accounts the Comptroller and Auditor-General shall
satisfy himself that the money expended has been applied to the
purpose or purposes for which the grants made by Parliament were
intended to provide and that the expenditure conforms to the
authority which governs it, and he shall also scrutinise the
expenditure of all moneys voted by the House of Commons, and the
balances on all such accounts.

The Comptroller and Auditor-General, after satisfying himself that the
vouchers have been examined and certified as correct by the
accounting department, may, in his discretion and having regard to
the character of the departmental examination, in any particular case
admit the sums so certified without further evidence of payment in
support of the charges to which they relate:

Provided that, if the Ministry of Finance desires the vouchers or
any of them to be examined in greater detail, the Comptroller and
Auditor-General shall take action accordingly.

The Comptroller and Auditor-General shall report to the House of
Commons any important change in the extent or character of any
examination made by him.][

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 16
Unauthorised expenditure.

16. If at any time the Comptroller and Auditor-General is required
by the Ministry of Finance to ascertain whether any expenditure
included in any Appropriation Account is supported by the authority
of that Ministry, he shall examine that expenditure with that
object, and shall report to the Ministry of Finance any expenditure
which appears upon the examination to have been incurred without
such authority, and any such unauthorised expenditure shall, unless
sanctioned by the Ministry of Finance, be regarded as not being
properly chargeable to a Parliamentary grant, and shall be so
reported to the House of Commons.]

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 17
Objections by Comptroller and Auditor-General.

17. If, during the progress of the examination by the Comptroller
and Auditor-General hereinbefore directed, any objections should arise
to any item to be introduced into the Appropriation Account of any
grant, such objections shall, notwithstanding such account shall not
have been rendered to the Comptroller and Auditor-General, be
immediately communicated by him to the Department concerned, and if
the objections shall not be answered to his satisfaction by such
Department they shall be referred by him to the Ministry of
Finance, and that Ministry shall determine in what manner the items
in question shall be entered in the annual Appropriation Account.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 18
Presentation of reports to House of Commons.

18. If the Ministry of Finance do not within the time specified in
this Act present to the House of Commons any report made by the
Comptroller and Auditor-General on any of the Appropriation Accounts,
or on the accounts of issues for Consolidated Fund services, the
Comptroller and Auditor-General shall forthwith present such report.

Examination of accounts of receipts of revenue.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 19

19. The accounts of the receipts of revenue by every Department and
the accounts of every receiver of money which is by law payable
into the ... Exchequer shall be examined by the Comptroller and
Auditor-General on behalf of the House of Commons, in order to
ascertain that adequate regulations and procedure have been framed to
secure an effective check on the assessment, collection and proper
allocation of revenue, and the Comptroller and Auditor-General shall
satisfy himself that any such regulations and procedure are being
duly carried out.

The Comptroller and Auditor-General shall make such examination as he
thinks fit with respect to the correctness of the sums brought to
account in respect of such revenue as aforesaid, and shall, together
with his report on the Appropriation Accounts of the Departments
concerned, present to the House of Commons a report on the results
of any such examination.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 20
Examination of other cash accounts.

20. The Comptroller and Auditor-General shall examine, if so required
by the Ministry of Finance and in accordance with the prescribed
regulations, the accounts of all [Departments] and any other
accounts, whether relating directly to the receipt or expenditure of
public funds or not, which the Ministry of Finance may, by minute
to be laid before Parliament, direct.

The Comptroller and Auditor-General shall examine any such accounts
so required to be examined by him as aforesaid with as little
delay as possible, and when the examination of each account has
been completed shall sign a certificate to the account recording the
result of his examination, and a copy of the account so certified
shall be sent to the [Department or person rendering the account].

A list of all accounts so certified shall be submitted by the
Comptroller and Auditor-General to the Ministry of Finance not later
than the first week in February and the first week in August in
every year.[

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 20A
Audit of accounts of charities.

20A. The power conferred upon the Ministry of Finance by the
preceding section shall include the power to direct the examination
of the accounts of the Ministry of Finance relating to charitable
trusts administered or supervised by the Ministry whether as
successor to the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests
for Ireland or otherwise.]

Examination of stock and store accounts.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 21

21. Stock or store accounts shall be kept in all cases where, in
the opinion of the Ministry of Finance, the receipt, expenditure,
sale, transfer, or delivery of any securities, stamps, provisions, or
stores the property of His Majesty in any Department is of
sufficient amount or character to require the keeping of such
accounts, and the Comptroller and Auditor-General shall, on behalf of
the House of Commons, examine any such accounts so required to be
kept, in order to ascertain that adequate regulations have been made
for control and stocktaking, and that the regulations are duly
enforced and that any requirements of the Ministry of Finance have
been complied with.

The Comptroller and Auditor-General may require a special stocktaking
to be carried out by any Department in the presence of one of his
officers if, on his examination of any such account, it appears to
him that such stocktaking is necessary, and the Department shall
thereupon take steps to comply with such requisition.

The Comptroller and Auditor-General shall report to the House of
Commons the result of any such examination.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 22
Preparation and examination of trading, etc., accounts.

22. There shall be prepared in each financial year ... statements
of account showing the income and expenditure of any manufacturing,
trading or commercial services conducted by any Department, together
with ... balance sheets and statements of profit and loss ....

All such accounts shall be transmitted to the Comptroller and
Auditor-General and presented to Parliament.

All such accounts as aforesaid shall be examined by the Comptroller
and Auditor-General on behalf of the House of Commons, and in his
examination he shall have regard to any programme of works or
manufacture which may have been laid before Parliament, and he shall
certify and report on such accounts to the House of Commons.

Preparation and rendering of accounts and questions at audit.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 23

23. The accounts (other than Appropriation Accounts) which the
Comptroller and Auditor-General is required by or under this Act to
examine shall be prepared and rendered to him by such Departments
or (in the case of accounts not relating directly to the receipt
or expenditure of public funds) by such persons as may be
prescribed and in accordance with the prescribed regulations.

If, in the course of any examination of accounts to which this
section applies, any question arises between the Comptroller and
Auditor-General and the [Department or person prescribed to render
the account], it shall be referred to the Ministry of Finance,
whose decision thereon shall be final.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 24
Access to books of account.

24. In order that his examination of any accounts may, as far as
possible, proceed pari passu with the transactions of the several
accounting Departments, the Comptroller and Auditor-General shall have
free access at all convenient times to the books of account and
other documents relating to the accounts of such Departments, and
may require the several Departments concerned to furnish him from
time to time, or at regular periods, with accounts of the
transactions of such Departments respectively up to such times or
periods.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 25
Form of accounts.

25. A plan of account books and accounts adapted to the
requirements of each service shall be designed under the
superintendence of the Ministry of Finance, and each Department of
the public service shall keep its accounts in the [manner directed
by that Ministry].

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 26
Adjustment of balances on accounts.

26. Every [public officer] shall, on the termination of his charge
[of public moneys], or in the case of a [deceased public officer]
his representatives shall forthwith pay over any balance of public
money then due to the public in respect of such charge to the
public officer authorised to receive the same; and in all cases in
which it shall appear to the Comptroller and Auditor-General that
any balance of public money has been improperly and unnecessarily
retained by [a public officer], he shall report the circumstances of
such cases to the Ministry of Finance, and that Ministry shall take
such measures as to that Ministry may seem expedient for recovering
the amount of such balance, together with interest upon the whole
or part of such balance, for such period of time, and at such
rate as to that Ministry may appear just and reasonable.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 27
Appeals by Department or public officer.

27. In all cases in which [a Department or public officer] is
dissatisfied with any disallowance or charge in ... accounts made by
the Comptroller and Auditor-General, [such Department or public
officer] shall have a right of appeal to the Ministry of Finance,
who, after such further investigation as that Ministry may consider
equitable, may make such order, directing the relief of the
appellant wholly or in part from the disallowance or charge in
question, as shall appear to that Ministry to be just and
reasonable, and the Comptroller and Auditor-General shall govern
himself accordingly.[

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 27A
Audit of accounts by Comptroller and Auditor-General.

27A. It shall be lawful for the Comptroller and Auditor-General, in
the examination of any accounts, to admit and allow, in cases where
it appears to him to be reasonable and expedient for the public
service, vouchers for any moneys expressed therein, although such
vouchers are not stamped according to law.]

Tenure of office, salary, and superannuation of Comptroller and
Auditor-General.

[

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 28

28.(1) The Comptroller and Auditor-General shall hold his office
during good behaviour, but subject to removal therefrom by [Her
Majesty], on an address from both Houses of Parliament; and he
shall not be capable of holding his office together with any other
office to be held during the pleasure of the Governor of Northern
Ireland, or in any Department.]

(2) There shall be paid to the Comptroller and Auditor-General a
salary of [#9,375 a year or such larger sum as may be determined
by Order in Council under the Salaries (Comptroller and
Auditor-General and Others) (Northern Ireland) Order 1973], and such
salary shall be charged on and issued out of the Consolidated Fund.

(3) The Comptroller and Auditor-General shall not be capable of
holding his office after he has attained the age of sixty-five
years.

(4) The service of any person as Comptroller and Auditor-General
shall, as from the establishment of that office, be treated for the
purposes of the Superannuation Acts (Northern Ireland), 1921 to 1949,
as amended from time to time, as service in an established capacity
in the permanent civil service of Northern Ireland:

(i)the amount of any pension, allowance or gratuity which may be
granted to, or in respect of, such person shall be charged on and
issued out of the Consolidated Fund;

(ii)nothing in this sub-section shall affect the right of any person
to receive any pension, allowance or gratuity which may be awarded
to, or in respect of the service of, an existing Irish Officer
under the provisions of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, but no
such person shall be entitled to receive any pension, allowance or
gratuity under this section if any pension, allowance or gratuity
has been awarded to him under the last-mentioned Act.]

(5) The Comptroller and Auditor-General may appoint to the Exchequer
and Audit Department such officers and servants as he may, with the
sanction of the Ministry of Finance, determine, and there shall be
paid to those officers and servants, out of moneys provided by
Parliament, such salaries as that Ministry may determine.

[(6) Anything which under any enactment is required or authorised to
be done by the Comptroller and Auditor-General may be done by an
officer of the Exchequer and Audit Department authorised for that
purpose by the Comptroller and Auditor-General, but an authority
given under this section to certify and report on accounts for the
House of Commons or each House of Parliament

(a)shall extend only to accounts in respect of which the [presiding
officer of the Assembly] PS0800[has certified]PS1000, that the
Comptroller and Auditor-General is unable to do so himself; and

(b)shall cease on a vacancy arising in the office of Comptroller
and Auditor-General.]

Definitions.

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 29

29. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires

The expression "prescribed" means prescribed by the Ministry of
Finance.

The expression "secretaries of the Ministry of Finance" includes an
assistant secretary of that Ministry.

The expression "Department" means any Department of the Government of
Northern Ireland, and includes any public officer of such Department
who may be prescribed for the purpose of performing any duty
required by this Act to be performed by a Department.

Definition rep. by 1956 c.17 (NI) s.18 sch.3

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 30
Effect of Act in relation to appointed days.

30. Any matter or thing which would at the passing of this Act
have been subject to any enactments contained therein, if a day had
then been appointed for any particular purposes or provisions of the
Government of Ireland Act, 1920, shall, as from such day as may
hereafter be appointed for those purposes and provisions, be subject
to such enactments, and this Act shall thereupon have effect
accordingly.[

EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1921 - SECT 31
Short title.

31. This Act may be cited as the Exchequer and Audit Act (Northern
Ireland), 1921.]Dates, after the termination of every financial year
to which the accounts relate, on or before which they are to be
made up and submitted

and Auditor-General

by the Departments

Finance by the

Comptroller and

Auditor-General

Commons by the

Ministry of Finance