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Budgets

The most famous of examples to use for budgets is probably The Budget itself. After all, this is what dictates where our finances go as Taxpayers’ so it makes sense to see how a Government calculates their expenditure.

Every year the Chancellor of the Exchequer presents to Parliament and the Nation a major financial and economic statement which is the Budget. Though it is only since 1998 that the Chancellor has detailed the Budget in the season of Spring.

The purpose of the Budget is detailed as follows;

• To give an update on the state of the economy and the public finances,
• To present new forecasts for each, to set out the Government's    economic and fiscal objectives,
• To report on the progress the Government has made toward achieving    its objectives, and
• To set out the further steps the Government is taking to meet them.

The number of areas that the Government try and improve with the capital The Budget obtains is vast. The projected figures for the 2004-2005 economic period showed that the largest sum of finance, over a quarter of the total managed expenditure, was £138 billion spent on social protection. The other key areas proved to be Health at £81 billion and Education at £63 billion. Those three areas almost represent two thirds of the total public spending of which is £488 billion for the entire United Kingdom.

The lion’s share of The Budget’s expenditure plan is made up from Income Tax (£128 billion) followed by National Insurance at £78 billion. The total tax receipts for the 2004-2005 period were estimated to be at £455 billion. Other sectors to highlight for financial aid come through VAT (£73 bn), Excise Duties (£40 bn) and Corporation Tax (£35 bn)

To access information regarding The Budget it is published in the Financial Statement and Budget Report (FSBR) and the Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report (EFSR).