§ Mr. Andrew MacKayasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give details of any changes to his Department's cash limit.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerSubject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the cash limit of class IV, vote 5 will be increased by £45 million to £142,869,000.
That increase represents provision for a grant to the British National Oil Corporation the reasons for which were explained in the minute which my Department laid before the House on 23 October.
The increase of £45 million in BNOC's external financing requirement will be charged to the reserve and has been taken into account in the estimated outturn for the total of public expenditure for 1984–85 given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his autumn statement on 12 November 1984. The corporation's external financing requirement for 1984–85 is revised from minus £4 million to £41 million.