§ Mr. DevlinTo ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any changes will be made in the cash limits of his Department for 1988–89.
§ Mr. MellorSubject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the cash limit for Class XIV Vote 3 (Miscellaneous health services and personal social services, England) will be increased by £4,995,000 to £424,256,000. The increases are made for an additional £3,697,000 to implement, from 1 April 1988, the recommendations of the review bodies in respect of doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives and professions allied to medicine as announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 April 1988, £100,000 for nurses' and midwives' pay as announced in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Mr. Hayes) on 1 November 1988 at column601, £5 million for a grant to the Motability 10th anniversary trust fund and £250,000 for the "Eggs: The Facts" advertising campaign. These increases are offset by a surrender of £3,236,000 in respect of a grant to the independent living fund and of £250,000 in respect of grants to organisations serving the interests of persons affected by an error in the calculation of the retail prices index. These sums represent that portion of those grants which will not be paid at the level planned in the current financial year. The increases are further offset by a reduction of £566,000 to the sum announced by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 21 July 1988 at column 726 to reflect a reduced carry forward of capital underspends allowed under the end-year flexibility scheme.
The net effect of these changes has been charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.