Departments Directions Social Fund GuidePart 8 - The Directions issued by the Department
The Budget
Direction 40 - Responsibilities of the Area Decision Maker40.The nominated Area Decision Maker must carry out the following functions:
(a)make a planned profile of the level of grants expenditure for the relevant Decision Makers throughout the period of the allocation and monitor actual expenditure against it.
(b)issue, and monitor the effect of, guidance which specifies the level of priority which may be met from the allocations for grants under Direction 4.
(c)issue information about the budgetary position of the grants allocation.
(d)on at least one occasion during every month review the planned profile made under paragraph (a), the guidance under paragraph (b) and the information under paragraph (c).
(e)revise the planned profile, guidance and information reviewed under (d) above as is necessary to ensure that actual expenditure does not exceed the planned level of expenditure for the period of the allocation.
(f)notify the relevant Decision Makers of the most recent Northern Ireland baseline figure issued by the Department to be applied when determining the maximum amount available to each budgeting loan applicant under Direction 52 (in order to manage spending of the Northern Ireland loans budget).
(g)notify the relevant Crisis Loan Decision Makers of any Northern Ireland guidance issued by the Department about constraints on the loans budget for crisis loans and monitor their observance of it.
Direction 41 –Budget Responsibilities of the Decision Makers41.(1)In determining an application for a loan, Decision Makers must have regard to the Northern Ireland loans budget (which is the “relevant allocation”) by:
(a)applying the current budgeting loan baseline figure issued by the Department for the purpose of determining budgeting loans.
(b)taking account of the guidance issued by the Department about priorities for the loans budget in general.
(c)taking account of any guidance about constraints on the award of crisis loans as the Department may issue.
(2)Where the Department issues guidance referred to in (1) (c), this will be notified to Decision Makers by the Area Decision Maker.
(3)In having regard to the Northern Ireland loans budget, Decision Makers should note that:
(a)the annual Northern Ireland budget for budgeting loan and crisis loan payments is arrived at by combining annual treasury funding with the amount of forecast loan recoveries for the year.
(b)the baseline figure referred to in Direction 40(f) and Directions 32, 52 and Social Fund Inspector's Direction 4 is set at the start of the budget allocation period, and varied as appropriate during that period, with the aim of spending the annual budget in full; variations in the baseline figure are kept to a minimum so as to provide maximum consistency of budgeting loan award amounts available throughout the year.
(c)the baseline figure reflects the budgetary position of the loans budget as it is arrived at by taking account of the amount of the budget spent and loans recovered so far, and the forecast demand and recoveries for the rest of the year.
Direction 42 – Budget Responsibilities of Decision Makers for grants42.(1)Decision Makers must have regard to the relevant community care grants allocation by:
(a)taking account of guidance issued by the Area Decision Maker about the current level of priority that may be met from the relevant allocation.
(b)referring to the budgetary information issued by the Area Decision Maker to ascertain the current budgetary position.
(2)Decision Makers must be satisfied that any award they make in the period of the allocation does not, in the aggregate with other awards in that period, exceed the allocation.
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