BRIEFING TO THE JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE ON

Transcript:BRIEFING TO THE JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE ON:
BRIEFING TO THE JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OF PARLIAMENT CONTENTS Review of the FMPPLA and Regulations Organisational re-alignment project 2 REVIEW OF THE FMPPLA AND REGULATIONS 3 THE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OF PARLIAMENT OF PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURES ACT Following the adoption of the Financial Management of Parliament of Provincial Legislatures Act (the Act) 2009, regulations were developed for party funding, cash management, investment and debtor management. The SCM policy was converted into regulation format. The outstanding regulations provided for in section 65 were also drafted. These regulations were discussed at sector workshops with CFOs and legal advisers, and inputs from provincial legislatures were considered. Concerns were raised that some concerns originate from the Act itself. The Speakers Forum then resolved that the Act be reviewed and thereafter the regulations be concluded following the amendments– a process which will be undertaken in the Seventh Parliament. 4 PARLIAMENT’S BUDGET VOTE Parliament is a distinct arm of the State and its budget is therefore developed on this basis. This nevertheless include interactions between Parliament and the National Treasury each year. Previously, Parliament’s budget was discussed in a multi-party subcommittee of the Joint Rules Committee. This was structure then replaced by the Governance Oversight Authority (POA). The POA was later superseded when the Financial Management of Parliament of Provincial Legislatures Act (the Act) was adopted in 2009. While the Act strengthened the post facto oversight of Parliament’s budget, it did not prescribe a process or structure to draft Parliament’s budget vote. Parliament is now in the process of establishing a special forum whose mandate will include scrutiny over the development of Parliament’s budget vote. Proposals will include the regularisation of the engagements between Parliament and the Treasury. 5 THE BUDGET PROCEDURE AND THE MONEY BILLS AND RELATED MATTERS ACT The Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, (2009), (the Act) was passed in 2009. The Act gave effect to section 77(3) of the Constitution. Owing to technical challenges, Parliament passed the Money Bills and Related Matters Amendment Bill in 2019. Following the promulgation of the Act, Parliament updated its rules and established a Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) to facilitate implementation. To date, however, the Act has not been fully applied. One of the reasons for this is that a number of processes in the Act require the rules to be expanded The Subcommittee on the Review of National Assembly Rules has since drafted