The Common Fund

The common fund is the single fund into which every contribution of a member organisation and every fee collected by a department is paid, and from which every payment of the Velocity Interoperability Network is made. It is held by the Department on behalf of the members, and no department has an account of its own. This page describes how the fund is held and controlled, records its movements during the transition period, and sets out the rules that govern the reserve fund within it.

The fund was opened by the interim finance office on 10 August 2026, the day the founding members agreed the transitional budget. It received its first advance contributions on 17 August and passed to the Department on establishment. The figures below record its position on 6 September 2026.

10.30m

Credits held in the common fund at establishment on 6 September 2026

11.55m

Credits received into the fund from thirty-one members between 17 August and 5 September 2026

1.25m

Credits paid from the fund to suppliers during the transition period

1.31m

Credits to be appropriated to the reserve fund on 31 December 2026

Movements during the transition period. Between 17 August and 5 September 2026 the fund received the transitional contributions of thirty-one members and paid 1,250,000 credits to suppliers for the expenditure incurred in preparing the departments. The table below records the receipts and payments of each week and the balance at its close. The balance of 10,300,000 credits at the close of 5 September is the cash figure in the opening statement of financial position on the Accounts page.

Receipts are the transitional contributions of 700,000, 350,000 or 140,000 credits paid by members in Bands A, B and C. The number of members paying in each week, by band, is shown below and agrees with the register of contributions on the Member Contributions page: eight of nine Band A members, thirteen of seventeen Band B members and ten of sixteen Band C members had paid before establishment.

Payments in each week are the invoices approved for payment under the interim arrangements and settled from the fund. The purposes of the larger payments, and the 690,000 credits recorded but not yet paid at establishment, are set out on the Spending page. The eleven contributions still to be received, totalling 2,940,000 credits, fall due on 30 September 2026 and will appear as receipts in the statement for the quarter ending on that date.

Rules governing the fund. The fund is held under the rules below, which were agreed by the founding members on 10 August 2026 and bind the Department in every financial year.

One fund, two accounts

The common fund consists of the general fund, from which all expenditure under the approved budget is paid, and the reserve fund. The two are held in separate accounts, and no amount moves from the reserve fund to the general fund except by a recorded drawing.

Custody

The fund is held on deposit with institutions approved by the member organisations. The Department may not place any part of the fund in an investment other than a deposit repayable within thirty days, and may not hold more than one half of the fund with a single institution.

Two signatures

Every payment from the fund is authorised by two officers of the Department, neither of whom may be the authorising officer of the department that incurred the expenditure. The Department publishes the number of its signatories, which was four at establishment, in each quarterly statement.

No borrowing

The Network does not borrow. The Department may not make a payment that would take the general fund below zero; where contributions are late and the general fund is insufficient, the reserve fund is drawn on under the procedure below and the arrears are pursued.

Interest

Interest earned on deposits is credited to the general fund and reduces the contributions assessed on members in the following year, in the same way as fee income.

Reconciliation

The fund is reconciled to the records of the holding institutions at the end of every month, and at 15 January for the annual accounts. Every receipt is matched to an assessment notice or a fee return, and every payment to an approved invoice.

Reporting

The balance of the general fund and of the reserve fund is stated in every quarterly statement of expenditure and in the audited accounts, together with the receipts and payments of the period.

The reserve fund. The reserve fund is the part of the common fund set aside against a contribution that is not paid or a liability that was not foreseen. It is held at not less than one tenth of annual expenditure once it has been built up, and stands at nil until the first appropriation is made on 31 December 2026. The timeline below shows how it is expected to grow.

1. 6 September 2026

   Reserve fund established at nil

   The reserve account is opened alongside the general fund. No appropriation is made on establishment; the transitional budget provides for the first appropriation at the end of the year.

2. 31 December 2026

   First appropriation of 1,310,000 credits

   The appropriation provided for in the transitional budget is transferred from the general fund to the reserve fund on the last day of the first financial period.

3. 31 December 2027

   Second appropriation on the indicative budget

   The indicative estimates for 2027 provide for an appropriation of 3,200,000 credits, which would bring the reserve fund to 4,510,000 credits, above one tenth of the indicative expenditure for the year.

4. From 2028

   Fund held at one tenth of approved expenditure

   The appropriation in each later budget is set at the amount, if any, needed to keep the reserve fund at not less than one tenth of the expenditure approved for that year, after any drawing has been restored.

Drawing on the reserve fund. Nothing may be moved out of the reserve fund except under the steps below. No drawing has been made, and none is expected during the transitional period.

1. 1

   Step 1: The need is established

   A drawing may be made only where a contribution remains unpaid at the end of the financial year or an unforeseen liability arises that cannot be met by moving up to five per cent of a spending line. The Department records the amount required and its cause.

2. 2

   Step 2: The drawing is authorised

   The drawing is authorised in writing by the head of the Department and one other signatory. No drawing may reduce the reserve fund below one half of its balance at the start of the year without the prior approval of the members.

3. 3

   Step 3: Members are notified

   Within ten days the Department writes to every member stating the amount drawn, the cause, and the date by which the reserve fund will be restored.

4. 4

   Step 4: The fund is restored

   A drawing to cover arrears is restored from the recovery of those arrears with the following year's assessment. A drawing to meet an unforeseen liability is restored by the next annual appropriation, which is a first charge on the following year's budget.

5. 5

   Step 5: The drawing is reported

   The drawing, its cause and its restoration are shown in the statement of the reserve fund in the audited accounts, which the Audit Office examines.

The accounting treatment of the general fund, the reserve fund and assets contributed in kind is described on the Accounts page, and the dates on which the balance of the fund is reported on The Financial Year page. Fees paid into the fund by departments are described on the Fees and Charges page. Questions about the fund may be sent to contact@treasury.gov.vin.