§ Mr. SpringTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what proposals there are to change the 1996–97 cash limit or running costs limit for the Office of Public Service. [2377]
§ Mr. FreemanSubject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for the Office of Public Service—class XVII, vote 1—will be increased by £4,653,000 from £173,974,000 to £178,627,000 and the gross running cost limit will be increased by £8,548,000 from £74,101,000 to £82,649,000. The changes reflect the take up of running cost end-year flexibility— £8,775,000—and capital EYF—f645,000—under the end-year flexibility scheme announced by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 12 July 1996,Official Report, columns 326–31; and certain other transfers between Departments. Provision is also made for the privatisations of Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Recruitment and Assessment Services, the Occupational Health and Safety Agency, and the custody guards service. The increase in the cash limit will be met from the reserve and will not, therefore, add to the total of planned expenditure.
289W
§ Mr. SpringTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans he has to change the cash limit of the Central Office of Information for 1996–97. [2378]
§ Mr. FreemanSubject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for the Central Office of Information class—XVII, vote 3—will be increased by £5,200,000 from £1,182,000 to £6,382,000. The change is to provide a subsidy to the COI trading fund to cover anticipated redundancy and other costs arising from the COI trading fund's exit from the provision of certain services, following the prior options review of COI.