Cash Limits

HC Deb 27 January 1989 vol 145 cc776-7W

Mr. Sims

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he intends to make any changes to the 1988–89 cash limits within his responsibilities and to his Department's running costs limit.

Mr. Hurd

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the cash limit on class XI, vote 2, prisons, England and Wales, will be increased by £109,100,000 from £801,578,000 to £910,678,000. This increase will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

The additional provision is necessary because of the rise in the prison population. The elements of the extra costs are the emergency package of measures which I announced in March last, the costs of additional prison staff recruited for extra accommodation coming into use in 1988–89, and the cost, in the meantime, of accommodating prisoners in police cells.

The Home Office running cost limit will be increased by £21,296,000 from £807,799,000 to £829,095,000. This takes account of changes in provision on both class I, votes 2 and 3. The running cost provision in class XI, vote 2 will be increased by £23,300,000 from £594,658,000 to £617,958,000 which takes account of the surrender of £433,000 as a consequence of the overspend of the running cost limit for 1987–88. The running cost provision on class XI vote 3, central administration, miscellaneous and community services and civil defence, England and Wales will be reduced by:

1. (a) £2,000,000 to offset partly the increase on class XI, vote 2.
2. (b) £4,000 to reflect the Home Office's share of the costs of the recruitment under the direct entry Grade 7 competition for 1988 which will result in a corresponding increase in the running cost limit for the office of the Minister of the Civil Service, class XX, vote 1,

from £213,141,000 to £211,137,000.

On class XI, vote 3 on which token provision of £1,000 is being sought, there will be an overall reduction of £4,000 in the cash limit from £410,168,000 to £410,164,000 to reflect the transfer of costs for the direct entry grade 7 competition.