§ Mr. Michael Brownasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what changes are being made in the Northern Ireland cash limit for law, order and protective services, Class XVII, Vote 1.
§ Mr. John PattenSubject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the cash limit for expenditure by the Northern Ireland office on Law, Order, Protective and Miscellaneous Services (Class XVII, Vote 1) has been increased from £351.208 million to £365.208 million (an increase of £14 million). The increase in expenditure is required to meet both the costs of higher levels of police activity (including additional police manpower) necessary to combat terrorism, and the additional costs of police and prison officers' pay and allowances. It has been possible to reallocate additional resources to the police and prison services from within the law and order Vote as a whole. The £14 million represents the balance which cannot be accommodated within the existing cash limit.
108WThis has been covered by a transfer of resources from Northern Ireland Departmental cash limited programmes and will not therefore add to the planning total of public expenditure. A revised cash limit for Northern Ireland Departments to take account of this and other adjustments will be announced in the near future.