Imprest supply is the statutory mechanism that allows Parliament to provide the Government with the authority to—

• incur expenses and capital expenditure in advance of appropriation in an Appropriation Act; and

• make capital injections in advance of authorisation under an Appropriation Act.

The Imprest Supply (First for 2020/21) Act 2020 provides the sole financial authority from the start of the 2020/21 financial year until the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill is passed. In contrast, this Bill seeks financial authority additional to that sought in the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill.

This Bill is required to ensure that the Government has sufficient supply to implement Cabinet decisions made or otherwise finalised after the contents of the 2020/21 Estimates were closed off and to meet contingencies in excess of the amounts provided in the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill.

The amounts this Bill seeks are intended to be sufficient to provide supply until 30 June 2021 for—

• the incurring of expenses and capital expenditure in excess of the amounts appropriated in the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill; and

• the making of capital injections in excess of the amounts authorised under that Bill.

This Bill is repealed at the end of the 2020/21 financial year on 30 June 2021. Sections 4A and 12B of the Public Finance Act 1989 provide that appropriations for expenses and capital expenditure incurred, and authority for capital injections made, under the authority of this Bill must be sought in an Appropriation Act that comes into force on or before 30 June 2021. If this is not done, the expenses, capital expenditure, and capital injections will require validation in an Appropriation (Confirmation and Validation) Act in accordance with sections 26C and 26CA of the Public Finance Act 1989.

In this Bill, imprest is calculated separately for expenses and capital expenditure, subject to 2 exceptions. The imprest sought for expenses in this Bill covers the following capital expenditure to be incurred in advance of an appropriation that may include both expenses and capital expenditure:

• capital expenditure to be incurred by an intelligence and security department:

• non-departmental capital expenditure to be incurred in advance of a multi-category appropriation.

Accordingly, the capital expenditure described above is not covered by the imprest sought for capital expenditure in this Bill.

Imprest sought for expenses in this Bill covers the following appropriations:

• appropriations for the following categories of expenses:

  • output expenses:

  • benefits or related expenses:

  • other expenses:

• appropriations for expenses and capital expenditure to be incurred by an intelligence and security department:

• multi-category appropriations.

The main components of the $36,000 million of additional authority sought this year for expenses are—

• an allowance for Cabinet decisions made or otherwise finalised after the contents of the 2020/21 Estimates were closed off, including decisions on spending from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund; and

• a provision for increases in appropriations as a result of any necessary future decisions on the unallocated portion of the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund; and

• a provision for increases in appropriations relating to technical changes including fiscally neutral adjustments, confirmation of expense transfers from 2019/20, and forecasting changes; and

• a general contingency provision of around $3,900 million for currently unforeseen increases to expense appropriations that may result from Cabinet decisions or technical changes.

Imprest sought for capital expenditure in this Bill covers appropriations for capital expenditure. It does not cover capital expenditure included in the definition of expenses for the purposes of this Bill (see clause 5(1)).

The main components of the $18,500 million of additional authority sought this year for capital expenditure are—

• an allowance for Cabinet decisions made or otherwise finalised after the contents of the 2020/21 Estimates were closed off, including decisions on spending from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund; and

• a provision for increases in appropriations as a result of any necessary future decisions on the unallocated portion of the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund; and

• a provision for increases in appropriations relating to technical changes including fiscally neutral adjustments and confirmation of capital transfers from 2019/20; and

• a general contingency provision of around $2,995 million for currently unforeseen increases to capital appropriations that may result from Cabinet decisions or technical changes.

Imprest sought for capital injections in this Bill covers authorisations for $2,000 million of capital injections to be made to departments (other than intelligence and security departments) or Offices of Parliament. The additional authority sought this year for capital injections is mainly for increases in capital injections resulting from decisions on spending from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, including any necessary future decisions on the unallocated portion of that fund, and a general contingency provision for currently unforeseen capital injections.

A departmental disclosure statement is not required for this Bill.