HC Deb 27 March 1996 vol 274 cc597-8W
Mr. Spring

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has to change his Department's cash limits for 1995–96. [23438]

Mr. Gummer

I propose to make the following changes:

  1. (a) The DOE/HC (Housing Corporation) non-voted cash limit, covering grants and capital expenditure by the Housing Corporation in England, will be increased by £4,316,000 from £1,149,089 to £1,153,405,000. The increase is to fund an additional £2,820,000 in respect of city challenge expenditure; and to effect a transfer of £1,496,000 from current to capital expenditure under the rough sleepers' initiative.
  2. (b) The DOE/LACAP (local authority capital) non-voted cash limit will be increased by £1,649,000 from £1,924,064,000 to £1,925,713,000. The increase is due to take up of end-of-year flexibility for supplementary credit approvals to local authorities to enable funding of projects within the Housing Partnership Fund. The EYF entitlement of £933,000 was announced by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 13 July 1995, Official Report, columns 776–82, but was subsequently recalculated following revised forecast outturn data. The increase will be charged to the reserve and will therefore not add to the planned control total of public expenditure.
  3. (c) The DOE/RCW (regeneration and countryside and wildlife) non-voted cash limit will be decreased by £2,262,000 from £1,504,274,000 to £1,502,012,000. The decrease is the net effect of a transfer of £2,820,000 to the non-voted cash limit for the Housing Corporation (DOE/HC), to allow expenditure on city challenge projects financed by the Housing Corporation in England and an increase met by a transfer of £558,000 from the cash limit on class VII, vote 4 to allow the issue of supplementary credit approvals in respect of the urban programme.
  4. (d) The external financing limits will be increased for urban development corporations by £500,000 from £259,514,000 to £260,014,000 to allow Merseyside development corporation to bring forward regeneration projects; and for housing action trusts by £2,855,000 from £89,979,000 to £92,834,000 to accelerate progress on the redevelopment of housing action trust estates.
  5. (e) The DOE/OES (other environmental services) non-voted cash limit will be increased by £4,703,000 from £32,832,000 to £37,535,000. This increase reflects the take up of end year flexibility (£2,310,000) as announced by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 13 July 1995, Official Report, columns 776–82, to fund increases in provision for: contaminated land; recycling; and, Isles of Scilly water and sewerage supplementary credit approvals. The increase also includes a technical transfer of £2,393,000 from the DOE/NT (new towns) non-voted cash limit in respect of local authority contributions to the Commission for the New Towns under road cost sharing arrangements. The increase will be used to provide supplementary credit approvals to local authorities to cover their capital contributions to the Commission for the New Towns.
    6. 598
  6. (f) The DOE/NT (new towns) non-voted cash limit will be reduced by £2,025,000 from -£125,000,000 to -£127,025,000. The reduction is the result of additional receipts of £2,393,000 from local authorities financed by the increase in DOE/OES described above. In addition, there is a decrease of £315,000 resulting from a change in the final EFL (from nil to -£315,000) of the former Letchworth Garden city corporation which ceased to exist on 30 September. This is offset by an increase of £683,000 through take up of end year flexibility as announced by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 13 July 1995, Official Report, columns 776–82. I draw attention to the presentation of the DOEINT (new towns) non-voted cash limit for 1995–96 in the Summary and Guide to the Supply Estimates 1995–96 (Cm. 2775). It incorrectly showed the cash limit to be -£134,301,000 instead of the correct figure of -£125,000,000.
  7. (g) The external financing limits for the British Waterways Board will be increased by £200,000 from £49,640,000 to £49,840,000. The increase arises from savings on other sub-heads within vote 3 (environmental protection and water) and it will fund additional capital and maintenance expenditure.
  8. (h) The cash limit for class VII, vote 4, (local government and planning, England) covering sections A to F of that vote, will be reduced by £558,000 from £30,086,810,000 to £30,086,252,000. This change is to allow savings due to lower charges for Valuation Office Agency non-domestic rating work on section A (valuation services) to be transferred to the non-voted cash limit for regeneration and countryside and wildlife to allow the issue of supplementary credit approvals for the urban programme.

All the increases will be offset either by savings or charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.