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The Report by the Committee of Public Accounts on Excess Votes is part of the framework of Parliamentary control over government spending. Once the audited accounts of each department have been laid before Parliament, the Committee considers the reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General on the accounts of those departments that have exceeded the limits of expenditure authorised by Parliament. The Committee's Report recommends whether Parliament should approve further grant to the departments concerned, thereby regularising the excess expenditure. Where the excesses are the results of failures in control within departments, the Committee may make recommendations for improvements.
Resource-based Supply, introduced in 2001-02, requires departments to estimate and manage the resources they will consume in delivering services on an accruals basis, as well as their cash spending. Parliament authorises both cash spending and the use of resources.
In 2006-07, two bodies (the Teachers' Pensions Scheme (England and Wales) and the Ministry of Defence) incurred Excess Votes, with an excess in the use of resources totalling £38.6 million after deducting excess Appropriations in Aid of £64.1 million. In 2005-06, three bodies incurred a resource excess of £795.8 million and a single cash excess of £5.1 million. In 2006-07, the Excess Votes arose solely from the bodies underestimating their resource requirements, rather than overspending cash.
i. The Teachers' Pension Scheme (England and Wales) incurred an excess of £81.9 million, £59.1 million of which can be offset by excess Appropriations in Aid earned in the year, primarily because Scheme managers did not allow fully for higher costs than expected on notional items of expenditure.
ii. The Ministry of Defence incurred a resource excess of £20.9 million, £5.0 million of which can be offset by excess Appropriations in Aid earned in the year, mainly as a result of higher than expected non-cash costs on depreciation and costs of capital charges relating to assets and equipment in use on operations.
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