Little information on budget reserves
Ministers increasingly using budget reserves to put money to one side
Parliament receives little information on how ministers use budget reserves as temporary savings accounts. This accounting instrument enables a minister to retain funds earmarked for a particular purpose even if they cannot be spent in the budget year. The Court of Audit recommends that the information provided to the House of Representatives and the Senate on additions to and releases from budget reserves be improved and non-public agreements made on them be made public. Parliament could then exercise the democratic scrutiny appropriate to its right to approve the budget. The recommendations are made in a report entitled Budget Reserves published by the Court of Audit on 24 March 2016. The largest budget reserves have been formed to subsidise renewable energy production, to receive asylum seekers and to pay fines imposed by Brussels.