§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on underspending against departmental expenditure limits; and if he will make a statement. [53306]
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§ Mr. Andrew SmithThe public spending system introduced in 1998 provides three-year budgets for departments and allows underspends in one year to be carried over to the following year. Budgets are linked to targets for results set out in Public Service Agreements. This encourages departments to plan their budgets over a longer timeframe and reduces the incentive to spend wastefully at the end of the year.