CO885-(16-18) — Page 426

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

C.O.

Reference :-

•885

17 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

46

(iii.) The certificate is signed by the proper officer, and that any voucher for salaries, allowances, and other services paid under General Warrant is duly certified by the head of the department;

(iv.) All proper deductions from salaries or pensions on account of contributions, repayment of advances, family remittances or other liabilities have been duly made by the department concerned. Sub-accountants making payments for the Treasurer will similarly satisfy themselves in regard to these points so far as they are in a position to do so.

300. Payment will be made only to the persons named in the vouchers, or their legal representatives, from whom signed receipts (duly stamped, where necessary) must be taken at the time of payment. Where the recipient is unable to write, he will make his mark in acknowledgment of receipt, the act being witnessed and the receipt counter- signed by some person other than the paying officer. When payments are made to persons other than those named in the vouchers or to the agents of officers absent on leave, the authorities under which they are made (such as powers of attorney, and letters of administration), shall be registered in the Treasury and notified on the vouchers, except where the law permits of a declaration being substituted for letters of administra tion in cases of succession to small estates. In the case of an officer absent on leave, the amount of whose salary is paid to his agent, a certificate that the officer was alive on the date to which salary is claimed must be furnished to the Treasurer and attached to the payment voucher. When an alteration occurs in the amount expressed to be received, the initials of the recipient should be written against such alteration. A receipt given by an officer for money paid to him by way of imprest, or in adjustment of an account where he derives no personal benefit therefrom, is not, unless specially required by local law, chargeable with stamp duty. Payments of subsistence and other allowances in reimbursement of expenses actually incurred are likewise exempt.

$ 28. Classification and Control.

301. The Estimates, when approved by the Legislature and the Secretary of State, form the basis of the accounts of the year to which they relate, and the classification and sub- division of the accounts of revenue and expenditure must accord with the detail of the Estimates; but, if the latter are wrongly arranged or misleading, the facts should be noted by the head of the department concerned and reported to the Colonial Secretary with a view to their alteration in subsequent years.

302. It is the duty of heads of departments to watch the expenditure of their departments with reference to the amounts provided for them in the Colonial Estimates, and to report at once to the Colonial Secretary whenever it may appear that the amounts provided will prove insufficient for the service of the year. Whenever the Treasurer

makes any charge against a vote by transfer from the Crown Agents' account or the account of another department, he will immediately notify the head of the department responsible for the vote, who will post his vote account accordingly.

303. If charges are made against a head, which, although apparently chargeable to that head, do not clearly come within the meaning of any of the subheads, they should be brought by the Treasurer under the notice of the head of the department concerned and of the Colonial Secretary, with a view to the insertion of an additional subhead in the account.

304. The authority of the Secretary of State will be required for defraying any excess of expenditure beyond the amount provided under any subhead out of savings on another subhead; and, if the total provision for the head is exceeded, supplementary legislative authority will also be required. The Secretary of State's authority is also required for all rates and scales of personal remuneration, and for any special expenditure.

305. The authority for expenditure conveyed by an Appropriation Law lapses at the end of the financial year to which it relates, and if further expenditure is necessary for the completion of any service it must be provided for in the Estimates or Supple- mentary Estimates of the year in which the sum will actually be expended. The authority conveyed by warrants and requisitions similarly lapses on the last day of the financial year in which they are issued and no payments may be made after that date, except under the authority of warrants or requisitions issued for the service of the ensuing financial year.

306. The date of payment governs the date of the record of the charge in the accounts. In no circumstances may payments be made before they are due for the

47

purpose of utilising an anticipated saving on a subhead, nor may the unexpended portion of any subhead be drawn from the Treasury for the purpose of setting it in reserve to meet impending payments, or be carried to a deposit or suspense account. On the other hand, expenditure properly chargeable to the account of a given year must, as far as possible, he met within the year, and must not be deferred for the purpose of avoiding an excess on the amount provided in the Estimates.

307. Where any officer, department or board administers on behalf of the Govern- ment any commercial or industrial enterprise, or any service involving receipts and payments, the whole of such receipts and payments shall be accounted for to the Treasurer, and their total amount exhibited in his monthly and annual accounts; and the estimates of the department will be prepared accordingly. Where a strict observance of this regulation is considered impracticable it may be relaxed with the previous sanction of the Secretary of State.

308. When a personal advance in anticipation of salary is allowed, it will be debited as an advance to the recipient and nor to the vote for his salary. Any advance made to an officer is to be notified by the Treasurer to the head of his department, who will take care that proper arrangements are made for repayment and that no salary is subsequently paid unless such arrangements have been made and are complied with.

" below 309. The purchase and sale of securities will be included in the accounts the line," that is to say, following after and distinct from the entries relating to revenue and to expenditure charged against revenne. Amounts realised by the sale of securities will be brought to account under Investments Realised and no record of any profit or loss in relation to the purchase price will be made except in the case of a sale of investments on account of surplus balances, when any resulting profit will be carried to current revenue and any loss charged to expenditure. In all other cases the difference between the purchase and sale prices will be left in or borne by the balance of the fund in respect of which the investment was made.

310. Any necessary expenditure on services of a confidential nature, the purpose and particulars of which cannot be divulged, will be specially reported to the Secretary of State and will be supported in the accounts by the Governor's certificate of payment and declaration that he has satisfied himself that the money has been properly expended. 311. The authority of the Secretary of State is required for writing off any loss of public money and, subject to the provisions of these regulations, of any amount which has appeared as an asset in previous accounts.

$29.-Remittances.

312. All payments due by a Colonial government to other governments, or to publie departments or other creditors in the United Kingdom, should be made through the Crown Agents for the Colonies,

313. The Crown Agents will keep themselves continuously in funds by arranging to draw when necessary on the Colonial Treasurer, whose duty it is to watch the account of the Colony with the Crown Agents, to be prepared to meet their drafts, and to notify them in good time if local circumstances make it necessary to arrange for temporary accommodation in aid of the Government's account with them.

314. The maximum cash balance which may be retained by sub-accountants will be calculated upon their average current requirements and fixed by authority of the Governor, and the Treasurer will keep such balances up to their authorised limits.

315. Remittances to public creditors other than those made through the Crown Agents will be made only by the Colonial Secretary, who for such purpose will be furnished by the Treasurer with a draft payable to the order of the creditor concerned.

316. The cost of remittance of salaries or pensions not drawn through an agent of the Colony will be deducted from the amount reinitted.

317. A public officer will be allowed to remit by drafts on the Crown Agents for the Colonies, in equal monthly or quarterly instalments, annual amounts, not exceeding half his salary in any one year, for the support of members of his family or for the payment of life insurance premiums, but for no other purpose.

318. All applications for family remittances must be made through the head of the department to the Colonial Secretary, who will furnish to the Treasurer a list of the authorised family remittances and will notify him of any amendments to it.

24983

G2