FINANCIAL OPERATIONS : All governments operate under a Consolidated Fund. It is a fund into which all government moneys are paid. All revenues go into the Consolidated Fund, unless Parliament otherwise directs. All government expenditures are paid out of the Consolidated Fund. Moneys in the Consolidated Fund cannot be

doi:10.4324/9781843140962-35

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ABSTRACT

In Attorney General v Wilts United Dairies Ltd,3 Atkin LJ said: Though the attention of our ancestors was directed especially to abuses of the prerogative, there can be no doubt that [the Bill of Rights] declares the law that no money shall be levied for or to the use of the Crown except by grant of Parliament. We know how strictly Parliament had maintained the right – and, in particular, how jealously the House of Commons has asserted its predominance in the power of raising money. An elaborate custom of Parliament has prevailed by which money for the service of the Crown is only granted by the request of the Crown made by a responsible Minister and assented to by a resolution of the House in Committee. By constitutional usage no money proposals can be altered by the [House of Commons] whose powers are confined to acceptance or rejection. Similar elaborate checks exist in respect of authority for expenditure of public revenue.