text_body: --- DIVISION TITLE ---
  
  Charter for Budget Responsibility - Aiming for Budget Surplus - Cap on Welfare Spending
  
  --- MOTION EFFECT ---
  
  
  @ MP voted aye for reducing public borrowing and in favour of capping welfare spending.
  @ MP voted no against reducing public borrowing and against capping welfare spending.
  
  The majority of MPs voted for reducing public borrowing, aiming for a budget surplus in normal times, and in favour of capping welfare spending.
  
  The motion supported by the majority of MPs taking part in this vote was:
  
  :That [http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2015-0739/PU1849_OBR_charter_autumn_update_final_web.pdf the Charter for Budget Responsibility: autumn 2015 update] which was laid before the House on 12 October, be approved.
  
  The Charter for Budget Responsibility: autumn 2015[1] update states
  
  :The Treasuryâs objectives for fiscal policy are to:
  :ensure sustainable public finances that support confidence in the economy, promote intergenerational fairness, and ensure the effectiveness of wider  government policy 
  :support and improve the effectiveness of monetary policy in stabilising  economic fluctuations 
  
  Under the heading "Mandate for fiscal policy" the document states:
  
  In normal times, once a headline surplus has been achieved, the Treasuryâs mandate for fiscal policy is:
  :a target for a surplus on public sector net borrowing in each subsequent year
  For the period outside normal times from 2015-16 the Treasuryâs mandate for fiscal policy is:
  :a target for a surplus on public sector net borrowing by the end of 2019-20
  
  The previous mandate for fiscal policy was included in the Autumn 2014 Charter for Budget Responsibility Update[2]:
  
  :a forward - looking aim to achieve cyclically - adjusted current balance by the end of the third year of the rolling, 5-year forecast period.
  
  
  The autumn 2015 update which was the subject of this vote added this period until 2019-20, the Treasuryâs mandate for fiscal policy is supplemented by:
  :a target for public sector net debt as a percentage of GDP to be falling in each year
  
  The charter also contains a section on capping welfare spending, 
  :To ensure that expenditure on welfare remains sustainable, the Treasuryâs mandate for fiscal policy is further supplemented by:
  :the cap on welfare spending, at a level set out by the Treasury in the most recently published Budget report, over the rolling 5-year forecast period, to ensure that expenditure on welfare is contained within a predetermined ceiling.
  
  The section on the welfare cap remained unchanged following the approval of the autumn 2015 update. 
  
  
  See also:: [http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/division.php?date=2015-01-13&number=129 Vote on  Charter for Budget Responsibility: Autumn Statement 2014 Update] â 13 Jan 2015.
  
  ==
  
  
  * [1] [http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2015-0739/PU1849_OBR_charter_autumn_update_final_web.pdf Charter for Budget Responsibility: autumn 2015 update]
  * [2] [https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/386973/charter_for_budget_responsibility_AS2014_web.pdf Autumn 2014 Charter for Budget Responsibility Update]
  
  
  
  
  
  
  --- COMMENTS AND NOTES ---
  
  (put thoughts and notes for other researchers here)
  