§ Mr. BluntTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which Departments overspent their allocated budget in financial year 1996–97; by how much each overspent its allocated budget; which Departments have had to reduce their budgets in financial year 1997–98 as a consequence; which Departments were allowed a claim on the reserve for all or part of their overspend; and how much each Department was allowed to claim from the reserve. [14026]
§ Mr. Darling[holding answer 3 November 1997]: The Ministry of Defence breached its overall cash limit for 1996–97 by £246 million. It was the only Department to do so. No claim on the Reserve was agreed in respect of the overspend in 1996–97, but the overspend did increase the control total outturn for 1996–97. Following an investigation into the causes of the breach it was decided that the Ministry of Defence should reduce its overall cash limit for 1997–98 by £168 million.
The reduction in 1997–98 is less than the overspend for two reasons. The first is that the Ministry of Defence received £40 million of extra receipts in 1996–97 which could not be appropriated in aid of the Ministry's Votes, because no provision had been made for them in the Estimates presented to Parliament. These receipts had to be surrendered by the Ministry directly to the Consolidated Fund, and so they could not be included in calculating the Ministry's overspend against the cash limit on its votes. Allowance was made for this in determining the size of the reduction in the cash limit in 1997–98. Secondly, allowance was also made for certain technical adjustments made during the course of 1996–97 in connection with the sale of the married quarters estate. These amounted to £38 million.