What is the Budget? The Financial Statement, Budget debate and Finance Bill

Publications / Guides

What is the Budget?

The Chancellor Jeremy Hunt walks outside Downing Street with the Budget box. ©HM Treasury / Zara Farrar

In order to raise income, the Government needs to obtain approval from Parliament for its taxation plans. The Budget is the means by which the House of Commons considers the government’s plans to impose 'charges on the people' and its assessment of the wider state of the economy.

This guide is part of the collection: How does Parliament authorise the Government's taxation plans? A procedural guide to the Budget process

The Budget is usually held on a Wednesday, although there is no prohibition on it being held on another day of the week (the Budget of 29 October 2018, for example, was held on a Monday).

If it is held on a Wednesday, the Statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer follows Prime Minister’s Questions. On any day, it would follow any Urgent Questions, ministerial statements and Points of Order, should there be any. There are no Ten Minute Rule Bill proceedings on Budget day.

The Statement and debate are usually chaired by the principal Deputy Speaker (who is also the Chair of Ways and Means), rather than the Speaker. (There have been occasional exceptions – the Speaker presided in 1968 and 1989.)

The Budget process has four key parliamentary stages:

The Financial Statement

The Chancellor of the Exchequer's statement to the House of Commons consists of two distinct elements:

an update on the state of the economy, and;
an outline of the government's taxation plans.

The Financial Statement and Budget Report (known as the Red Book) are laid before the House of Commons for scrutiny, accompanied by an array of supporting documentation including economic forecasts from the Office of Budget Responsibility , departmental press notices concerning the tax measures, policy costings, and data sources.

The Budget debate

Members of Parliament (MPs) consider the Financial Statement in a wide-ranging debate lasting four days. The debate is organised into topics, with each day dedicated to a particular policy theme or themes (for example, health, education, housing).

The Budget resolutions (‘Ways and Means’ resolutions)

Each individual tax or duty must be agreed in the form of ‘Ways and Means’ resolutions. These are put to the House of Commons as motions, which become resolutions once agreed, in the normal way.

The Finance Bill

Once the Budget resolutions have been agreed, these ‘charging’ or ‘founding’ resolutions form the basis of the Finance Bill. The Finance Bill cannot be introduced until the resolutions are agreed.

Last updated and citation

Last updated

08:06 am, 14 March 2023

Cite this page

Hansard Society (2022), How does Parliament authorise the Government's taxation plans? A procedural guide to the Budget process, (Hansard Society: London)

In this collection

The Chancellor Jeremy Hunt walks outside Downing Street with the Budget box. ©HM Treasury / Zara Farrar

What is the budget?

Tulip Siddique MP in the House of Commons. ©UK Parliament

How do MPs scrutinise the Budget?

Tellers in the House of Commons Chamber. ©UK Parliament

How do MPs approve the Budget?

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeve MP speaking in the House of Commons Chamber. ©UK Parliament

Can MPs amend the Budget?

What is the Finance Bill?

Rishi Sunak at the Despatch Box during the Budget. ©UK Parliament

What principles and rules govern the Budget process?

← Back to the collection homepage

Latest / Highlights

News / Parliament Matters Bulletin: What’s coming up in Parliament this week? 19-23 May 2025

Stella Creasy MP and Richard Tice MP will lead a backbench debate on the EU–UK summit. The Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a joint session with its Ukrainian counterpart on Russian misinformation. MPs will question the Defence Secretary, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Northern Ireland Secretary. Scrutiny of seven Government bills will continue in both Houses. Debate topics in the Commons will include an e-petition on transgender self-identification, and support for local pubs. On the Committee corridor, highlights include sessions on the security of undersea cables and the accessibility of the parliamentary estate. Michael Gove will be formally introduced to the House of Lords as its newest member.

Submissions / Status and rights of independent MPs in Parliament – Our evidence to the House of Commons Procedure Committee

Our evidence on the status and rights of independent MPs has been published by the House of Commons Procedure Committee. Our submission summarises the direct and indirect references to political parties in the Standing Orders and whether they might apply to groupings of independent MPs, analyses whether small parties and independent groupings face disadvantages, particularly in relation to committee membership, and considers whether parliamentary publications should distinguish between the many different kinds of independent MP.

Blog / The Planning and Infrastructure Bill: What happens when detail is deferred?

The Hansard Society has long raised concerns about the Government's increasing tendency to present undeveloped legislation that lacks detailed policy and grants ministers broad delegated powers to fill in the gaps later. This practice undermines effective parliamentary scrutiny, by preventing MPs and Peers from fully assessing how powers may be used, (or misused), in the future. The weak system for overseeing delegated legislation—especially in the Commons—exacerbates the problem. Several powers in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill currently before Parliament highlight these ongoing issues.

News / Assisted dying bill: Special series #12 - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 93

Is Kim Leadbeater's Assisted Dying Bill now "over the hump?" The Bill's supporters got it though its first day of Report Stage consideration in the House of Commons unscathed, with comfortable majorities in every vote. So, with debate on the most contentious set of amendments disposed of, will it now coast through its remaining scrutiny days in the Commons? Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.

Submissions / Evidence to the House of Commons Modernisation Committee: Priorities and strategic aims

In response to the Modernisation Committee's call for views on 17 October 2024, we submitted evidence outlining key areas we believe the Committee should prioritise. Our submission recommended a focus on: strengthening legislative scrutiny, with particular emphasis on reforming the delegated legislation system; enhancing financial scrutiny, especially in relation to the Budget and the Estimates; addressing strategic gaps in parliamentary scrutiny; making more effective use of parliamentary time; and reviewing the Standing Orders, language and rituals of the House of Commons.