Cash Limits (Hansard, 3 November 1998)

§ Mr. Prescott

Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimates, my Department's cash limits will change as follows. All references to the take-up of end year flexibility refer to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury's announcement of 14 July 1998,Official Report, columns 131–36.

(i) the cash limit for Class VI, Vote 1—Housing, construction, regeneration, countryside and wildlife, England—will be reduced by £9,200,000 from £1,801,539,000 to £1,792,339,000. This decrease is the result of reducing spending on private sector renewal on Section P. It will allow an increase in provision by £9,200,000 on the cash limit for Class VI, Vote 13— Ordnance Survey.

Paragraph 5 of the introduction to the 1998–99 Main Estimate for Class VI, Vote 1 says that the Urban Regeneration Agency will surrender to the Consolidated Fund any receipts in excess of £11.6 million. The figure should have read £116 million.

(ii) the DETP/LACAP(e) (Local Authority Capital-Environment) non voted cash limit will be increased by £3,234,000 from £924,998,000 to £928,232,000 to allow further Supplementary Credit Approvals to be issued to local authorities to enable funding of additional Cash Incentive Scheme grants. The increase results from the take-up of end year flexibility.

(iii) the cash limit for Class VI, Vote 2—Planning, roads, local transport and vehicle safety—will be reduced by £3,425,000 from £364,579,000 to £361,154,000. The reduction arises from the take-up of £172,000 capital end year flexibility and an increase of £36,403,000 to provide for the write-off of debt owed by the Humber Bridge Board to the Public Works Loan Board, less an inter vote transfer from this vote to Class VI, Vote 6, of £40,000,000 reflecting London Transport's responsibility for the Croydon Tramlink project.

(iv) the cash limit for Class VI, Vote 3—Environmental protection and water—will be increased by £537,000 from £334,237,000 to £334,774,000. The increase results from the take up of the £582,000 capital end year flexibility to increase grant in aid to the British Waterways Board; and an inter vote transfer of £147,000 from Class XVII, Vote 1 (Property Advisers to the Civil Estate) to increase grant in aid to the Environment Agency to pay for additional accommodation costs; offset by inter vote transfers from this vote to Class XIII, Vote 3 and Class XIV, Vote 2 for the Scottish and Welsh regional energy efficiency offices (£40,000 and £44,000); to Class XIII, Vote 3 for grant to Energy Action Scotland (£24,000); and to Class VI, Vote 5 to allow for increased Departmental running costs following the winding up of the UK Ecolabelling Board (£84,000).

As a consequence of (iv) above, there will be an increase to the external financing limit for the British Waterways Board of £582,000 from £52,690,000 to £53,272,000. This change will enable the Board to fund urgent works on the canal network.

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(v) the DETR/LGR (Local Government Reorganisation) Non-Voted Cash Limit will be decreased by £750,000 from £126,550,000 to £125,800,000, reflecting savings on the Local Government Residuary Body's borrowing approvals. This saving will be used to offset an increase outside the cash limit on Class VI, Vote 4 (Local Government and Regional Policy, England) to pay for the costs of emergency financial assistance to local authorities.

(vi) the cash limit for Class VI, Vote 5—Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions: administration—will be increased by £2,642,000 from £437,850,000 to £440,492,000. As a consequence of the changes to the Vote, the gross running cost limit for the Health and Safety Executive has increased by £249,000 from £156,696,000 to £156,945,000 and the gross running cost limit for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions has decreased by £16,000 from £603,653,000 to £603,637,000.

The changes reflect the take-up of £2,500,000 of the available £6,000,000 capital end year flexibility as well as inter-vote transfers: from Class V, Vote 1 of £150,000 and Class IX, Vote 1 of £250,000 in respect of capital costs for the Government Offices for the Regions; from Class V, Vote 1 of £300,000, of which £249,000 will be classified as running costs, for the additional costs to the Health and Safety Commission in enforcing the Working Time Regulations; and, from Class VI, Vote 3 of £84,000 for the running costs from absorbing the functions of the UK Ecolabelling Board; offset by inter-vote transfers from this Vote to Class XIII, Vote 6 of £50,000 and Class XIV, Vote 3 of £50,000 for energy efficiency work and an increase in appropriations-in-aid of £542,000 for the Sale of PSA Services Businesses.

(vii) the cash limit for Class VI, Vote 6—Transport Industries—will be increased by £130,000 from £75,060,000 to £75,190,000. The change is a result of increases in the latest estimates of the National Bus Company pensions case legal costs. London Underground's external finance limit will be increased by £69,000,000 from £523,250,000 to £592,250,000. This relates to the take-up of £29,000,000 capital end year flexibility and an inter-vote transfer from Class VI, Vote 2 of £40,000,000 in respect of the Croydon Tramlink.

(viii) the cash limit for Class VI, Vote 11—Office of the Rail Regulator—will be increased by £120,000 from £8,800,000 to £8,920,000. This increase reflects the take-up of £120,000 capital end year flexibility. There will also be a reduction of £205,000 from £8,400,000 to £8,195,000 in running costs to be transferred to capital within the cash limit. Such additional funding will allow the scheduled maintenance and refurbishment of office space currently occupied by the Rail Users Consultative Committee (RUCC) for Scotland to proceed.

(ix) the cash limit for Class VI, Vote 13—Ordnance Survey—will be increased by £9,200,000 from £3,762,000 to £12,962,000. The increase reflects investments and expenditure necessary for Ordnance Survey to prepare for the move to a Trading Fund on 1 April 1999 and results from a transfer from the cash limit for Class VI, Vote 1.

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The overall increases will be offset by transfers or charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.