The document discusses effective parliamentary oversight and accountability, noting the legislature's critical role in promoting fiscal transparency and accountability. It examines types of legislatures based on their approval of fiscal frameworks, budget documentation, amendment powers, time, committee organization, and analytical capacity. Key indicators are presented on budget approval processes, disclosure of assumptions, publicly available documents, amendment powers, timetables, and committee structures across countries.
2. OECD Network of Parliamentary Budget Officials
and Independent Fiscal Institutions (PBO)
3. 1. Budget- approving
2. Budget influencing
3. Budget-making
Legislature’s role critical to promoting fiscal
transparency and accountability but
assumption that active role a risk to fiscal
discipline…
Types of legislatures
4. • Legislative approval of ex ante fiscal
frameworks
• Comprehensiveness of budget documentation
• Amendment powers
• Time
• Committee organization
• Analytical capacity
• But also other factors like constitutional
division of responsibilities, party systems,
mandatory spending…
Key indicators
5. Does the Legislature first vote on the total amount of
expenditure before it votes on specific appropriations?
0
5
10
15
20
25
Yes No
2012
6. Disclosure of underlying assumptions and
publicly available budget documents
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2012 2007
Are the economic assumptions
underlying the budget and the
methodology used to establish
them published/publicly
available?
Publicly available Not publicly available
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Pre-budget
report
Budget proposal Citizens budget
Publicly available budget
documents
Publicly available Not publicly available
Not applicable
7. Elements included in the budget
document presented to the legislature
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Medium-term
fiscal fiscal
policy
objectives
Budget
priorities
Clearly defined
appropriations
for legislature
vote
Linkage of
appropriations
to
administrative
units
Medium-term
perspective on
total revenue &
expenditure
Non- financial
performance
targets
Text of
legislation of
policies
proposed in
budget
2012 2007
8. Amendment Powers
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Yes No
Is vote on the budget
considered a vote of
confidence?*
* Percentage of 30 OECD Member countries responding in 2012.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Unrestricted
powers
Within
executive’s
aggregates
Cut existing
items only
Approve or
reject
Other
Legislative amendment powers
9. Time
0 %
10 %
20 %
30 %
40 %
50 %
60 %
70 %
No.of months budget
presented before start
of FY
No.of months for
legislative debate
Time table for
presentation of budget
and legislative debate
3 months or more Less than 3 months
0 2 4 6 8 10
Austria
Slovenia
Ireland
Turkey
Hungary
Estonia
Japan
Canada
Italy
Australia
Poland
Czech Republic
Finland
France
Israel
Netherlands
Sweden
Slovak Republic
New Zealand
Switzerland
United States
Mexico
Number of months after year-end that
audited accounts are publicly disclosed
10. Committee organization
29.4%
17.6%
17.6%
11.8%
14.7%
8.8%
Committee structures for scrutinizingthe budget (Q59)
A single Budget/Finance Committee
coordinates a process in which sectoral
committees make recommendations to the
Budget/Finance Committee.
A single Budget/Finance Committee
formally considers the budget, but members
from sectoral committee sattend meetings of
the Budget/Finance Committee when
expenditures in their specific areas are
discussed
A single Budget/Finance Committee
formally considers budget aggregates (total
level of revenue and spending and their
allocation to each sector) and sectoral
committees formally consider spending for
sector specific appropriations.
Sectoral committees formally consider
appropriations for each respective sector. No
Budget/Finance Committee is in place or it
provides technical assistance only.
Other
Not applicable
11. Committee organization (2)
Example “two-tier” system: Sweden
1.Finance Committee discusses & recommends allocations for 27 ‘expenditure
areas’.
2. Sectoral committees allocate funding in expenditure areas & are permitted to
change the composition of appropriations within agreed total expenditure.
Other questions:
• Do committee members serve for the full term of parliament.
• Ministers and officials appear; Representatives of civil society appear.
• Open to the public.
12. • Committee staff / library and research
services (traditional)
• Specialised in-house units (e.g. UK, Israel,
Poland)
• Independent parliamentary budget offices
(e.g. US, Korea, Italy)
Analytical capacity
13. For more information
OECD Network of Parliamentary Budget Officials
and Independent Fiscal Institutions
• Web page: www.oecd.org/gov/budget/pbo
• Contact: Lisa von Trapp at Lisa.vontrapp@oecd.org