Imprest Supply (First for 2026/27) Bill

Imprest Supply (First for 2026/27) Bill EXPLANATORY NOTE GENERAL POLICY STATEMENT 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. This Imprest Supply Bill will provide the sole financial authority from the start of the 2026/27 financial year until the Appropriation (2026/27 Estimates) Bill is passed. This Bill is repealed on the coming into force of the Appropriation (2026/27 Estimates) Bill. 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 2027. 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. The amounts of imprest are calculated to provide sufficient authorisation for the period between the start of a financial year and the latest date on which the third reading of the main Appropriation Act for that financial year must be completed. Accordingly, the amounts of imprest for expenses, capital expenditure, and capital injections in this Bill are calculated on the basis of one-quarter (3 months’ worth) of the relevant annual appropriations and authorisations for capital injections sought in the Appropriation (2026/27 Estimates) Bill. In addition, the amounts of imprest for expenses and capital expenditure are adjusted for uneven timing of expenditure and additional material risks within Votes and include an allowance for new multi-year appropriations included in the Appropriation (2026/27 Estimates) Bill. The amounts of imprest also include a general contingency provision to cover risks that may eventuate. 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 authority sought this year for expenses includes upfront funding for Votes Justice, Social Development, and Tertiary Education. The amount of authority for expenses has been calculated as follows: The following table is small in size and has 2 columns. Column 1 describes amounts relevant to the calculation of imprest supply for expenses and column 2 sets out the amounts described. One-quarter (3 months’ worth) of total expense annual appropriations of $139,389 million (including expenses and capital expenditure appropriations for intelligence and security departments, and multi-category appropriations) authorised under the Appropriation (2026/27 Estimates) Bill $34,847 million Allowance to account for the uneven timing of expenses and additional material risks within Votes $429 million Allowance for new multi-year appropriations included in the Appropriation (2026/27 Estimates) Bill to the extent they relate to the 2026/27 financial year $2,234 million General contingency provision for expenses in excess, or outside the scope, of the expense appropriations in the Appropriation (2026/27 Estimates) Bill and for any amounts in excess of the calculated amounts described above $2,490 million Total imprest for expenses $40,000 million Imprest sought for capital expenditure in this Bill covers the 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 authority sought this year for capital expenditure includes upfront funding for Votes Education, Finance, and Housing and Urban Development. The amount of authority for capital expenditure has been calculated as follows: The following table is small in size and has 2 columns. Column 1 describes amounts relevant to the calculation of imprest supply for capital expenditure and column 2 sets out the amounts described. One-quarter (3 months’ worth) of total capital expenditure annual appropriations of $39,475 million authorised under the Appropriation (2026/27 Estimates) Bill $9,869 million Allowance to account for the uneven timing of capital expenditure and additional material risks within Votes $24,639 million Allowance for new multi-year appropriations included in the Appropriation (2026/27 Estimates) Bill to the extent they relate to the 2026/27 financial year $2,352 million General contingency provision for capital expenditure in excess, or outside the scope, of the capital expenditure appropriations in the Appropriation (2026/27 Estimates) Bill and for any amounts in excess of the calculated amounts described above $2,140 million Total imprest for capital expenditure $39,000 million Imprest sought for capital injections covers authorisations for capital injections to be made to departments (other than intelligence and security departments), Offices of Parliament, or parliamentary agencies. This Bill does not authorise imprest supply for capital injections to intelligence and security departments because section 12A(1) of the Public Finance Act 1989 does not apply to intelligence and security departments. The authority sought this year for capital injections includes upfront funding for the Department of Corrections. The amount of authority for capital injections has been calculated as follows: The following table is small in size and has 2 columns. Column 1 describes amounts relevant to the calculation of imprest supply for capital injections and column 2 sets out the amounts described. One-quarter (3 months’ worth) of total capital injections of $1,726 million authorised under the Appropriation (2026/27 Estimates) Bill $432 million Allowance to account for the uneven timing of capital injections to departments $30 million General contingency provision for capital injections in excess of the capital injections authorised under the Appropriation (2026/27 Estimates) Bill and for any amounts in excess of the calculated amounts described above $538 million Total imprest for capital injections $1,000 million DEPARTMENTAL DISCLOSURE STATEMENT A departmental disclosure statement is not required for this Bill. CLAUSE BY CLAUSE ANALYSIS Clause 1 is the Title clause. Clause 2 states that the Bill comes into force on 1 July 2026. Clause 3 provides for the repeal of the Bill on the coming into force of the main Appropriation Act for the 2026/27 financial year. Clause 4 sets out the purposes of the Bill. Clause 5 defines terms used in the Bill. Clause 6 seeks authority to incur expenses of up to $40,000 million in advance of appropriation. For the purposes of this Bill, expenses includes 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. Clause 7 seeks authority to incur capital expenditure of up to $39,000 million in advance of appropriation. Clause 7 does not apply to capital expenditure that is included as expenses for the purposes of this Bill. Section 4A of the Public Finance Act 1989 provides that all expenses and capital expenditure incurred under clauses 6 and 7 must be appropriated in an Appropriation Act that comes into force on or before 30 June 2027. Clause 8 seeks authority to make capital injections of up to $1,000 million in advance of authorisation under an Appropriation Act. Section 12B of the Public Finance Act 1989 provides that all capital injections made under clause 8 must be authorised under an Appropriation Act that comes into force on or before 30 June 2027. The Parliament of New Zealand enacts as follows: 1 Title This Act is the Imprest Supply (First for 2026/27) Act 2026 . 2 Commencement This Act comes into force on 1 July 2026 . 3 Repeal of this Act This Act is repealed on the coming into force of the main Appropriation Act for the 2026/27 year. 4 Purposes The purposes of this Act are— a to authorise expenses and capital expenditure to be incurred by the Crown, Offices of Parliament, and parliamentary agencies during the 2026/27 year in advance of appropriation in an Appropriation Act; and b to authorise capital injections to be made to departments, Offices of Parliament, and parliamentary agencies during the 2026/27 year in advance of authorisation under an Appropriation Act. 5 Interpretation In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— 2026/27 year means the financial year ending with 30 June 2027 capital expenditure has the meaning given to it by section 2(1) of the Public Finance Act 1989, but excludes capital expenditure that is included in the definition of expenses in this subsection department has the meaning given to it by section 2(1) of the Public Finance Act 1989, but excludes an intelligence and security department expenses has the meaning given to it by section 2(1) of the Public Finance Act 1989, but also includes— a capital expenditure incurred by an intelligence and security department; and b non-departmental capital expenditure incurred in advance of a multi-category appropriation. Terms or expressions used and not defined in this Act but defined in the Public Finance Act 1989 have, in this Act, the same meanings as in the Public Finance Act 1989. 6 Authority to incur expenses Expenses may, during the 2026/27 year, be incurred in advance of appropriation in relation to any Vote. Expenses incurred under subsection (1) must not exceed in the aggregate the sum of $40,000 million. 7 Authority to incur capital expenditure Capital expenditure may, during the 2026/27 year, be incurred in advance of appropriation in relation to any Vote. Capital expenditure incurred under subsection (1) must not exceed in the aggregate the sum of $39,000 million. 8 Authority to make capital injections Capital injections may, during the 2026/27 year, be made to any department, Office of Parliament, or parliamentary agency in advance of authorisation under an Appropriation Act. Capital injections made under subsection (1) must not exceed in the aggregate the sum of $1,000 million.