Lord Chancellor's Department: Expenditure Limit (Hansard, 26 February 2001)

§ The Lord Chancellor

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate for Class V, Votes 1, 2 and 3, the Lord Chancellor's Department's departmental expenditure limit for 2000–01 will be increased by £29,818,000 from £2,638,861,000 to £2,668,679,000. The increase is the net effect of:

take-up of year end flexibility to meet increased capital charges on the civil estate, to fund Change Programme, to meet increased expenditure on the Libra project, for legal aid expenditure and other running costs expenditure (£23,437,000);
funding of the Children and Family Court Advisory Service and Support Service (CAFCASS) from both Home Office (£3,000,000) and Department of Health (£3,000,000);
a contribution towards the costs of inspection for the Youth Justice Board from the Home Office (£23,000);
the costs of recruiting and re-appointing panel members for the unified appeals tribunals from the Department of Social Security (£73,000);
funding relating to the Unfair Contract Terms project from the Department of Trade and Industry (£8,000);
a transfer relating to the publication of local authority reports project from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (£11,000);
a contribution towards the costs of district judge redeployment from the Home Office (£467,000);
a transfer relating to CMF2 interface development funding for the JUROR and the Phoenix interface from the Home Office (£32,000);
a transfer in respect of Armed Forces Discipline Act from the Ministry of Defence (£340,000);
following deferral in the responsibility for warrant enforcement a transfer to the Home Office (—£860,000);
a contribution towards the costs of IBIS (Integrating Business and Information Systems) Criminal Justice Systems Unit to the Home Office (—£200,000);
relating to the Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) a transfer to the Home Office (—£23,000);
in respect of modernising the courts, grants from the Civil Service Modernisation Fund (£510,000).

The increase will be offset by transfers from other departmental expenditure limits as stated and a charge on the DEL Reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

The running cost limit for Lord Chancellor's Department Class V, Vote I will be increased by £30,885,000 from £611,797,000 to £642,682.000. The increase is in respect of:

take-up of end year flexibility arrangements (£20,240,000);
release of funds from the Departmental Unallocated Provision (£2,308,000);
additional VAT recoveries on contracted out services (£8,084,000);
transfer from the Home Office in respect of contribution to the costs of inspection for the Youth Justice Board (£23,000);
transfer from the Department of Social Security relating to the costs of recruiting and re-appointing panel members for the Unified Appeals Tribunals (£52,000);
transfer from the Department of Trade and Industry relating to the Unfair Contract Terms project (£8,000);
transfer from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions relating to the publication of local authority reports project (£11,000);
transfer from the Ministry of Defence relating to Armed Forces Discipline Act (£340,000);
Wider Markets Initiative receipts (£42,000);
transfer to the Home Office relating to contribution towards the costs of the IBIS (Integrating Business and Information Systems) Criminal Justice Systems Unit (—£200,000);
transfer to the Home Office relating to the Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) (—£23,000).

The running cost limit for Northern Ireland Court Service, Class V, Vote 2 will be increased by £3,538,000 from £33,566,000 to £37,104,000. The increase is a result of:

take-up of year end flexibility (£122,000);
additional VAT recoveries on contracted out services (£543,000);
costs of Omagh bomb inquest (£1,613,000); and increase in capital charge (£1,000,000) to be sourced from surplus appropriation in Aid;
modernising the courts from the Civil Service Modernisation Fund (£260,000).

The running cost limit for Public Records Office, Class V, Vote 3 will increase by £4,778,000 from £27,698,000 to £32,476,000. This increase is as a result of:

take-up of year end flexibility (£500,000);
lottery grant from the Heritage Lottery fund in respect of the project to microfilm WW1 Soldiers' Documents (£620,000);
Wider Markets Initiative receipts (£450,000);
receipt from the Modernising Government Fund (£250,000).