§ Lord Gray of Continasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it is intended to change the cash and running cost limits on any of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food departmental vote for which they have responsibility.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Baroness Trumpington)Yes, Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Revised Estimate, the cash limit for Class IV Vote 2 (Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce; administration) will be reduced by £1,284,000 from £39,509,000 to £38,225,000, and that for Class IV Vote 5 (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; departmental research, advisory services and administration) will be reduced by £72,000 from £257,014,000 to £256,942,000. The running cost limit for Class IV Vote 2 will also be reduced by £76,000 from £19,957,000 to £19,881,000 and that for Class IV Vote 5 will be reduced by £72,000 from £262,458,000 to £262,386,000.
The reductions in the running cost limits on Votes 2 and 5 reflect the transfer of provisions to the Scottish Office Administration Vote (Class XVI Vote 21 ) for processing data from England and Wales in connection with the Beef Special Premium Scheme. The remainder of the reduction to the cash limit of £1,208,000 on Vote 2 arises on IBAP's agency payments to DANI in respect of the Beef Variable Premium Scheme, which has ended.