§ Mr. Chris Pattenasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what changes are being made to the cash limit for Class XV, Vote 1, law, order and protective services.
§ Mr. Humphrey AtkinsSubject to parliamentary approval of the Supplementary Estimates the cash limit for Class XV, Vote 1, law, order and protective services has been increased by £436,000 to £277.336 million. Part of the increase—£186,000—is required for funding the State pathology service in Northern Ireland for which my Department will assume responsibility from 22 June 1980 under article 11 of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 1980. This part of the increase will be offset by a corresponding reduction in the Estimates provision for the Northern Ireland court service under Class IX, Vote 4, giving a revised cash limit of £5.549 million. The remainder of the increase—£250,000—is needed to meet a pay award for the probation service, under the last pay round, which was settled too late for inclusion in the 1980–81 Main Estimates.
Pending the approval of the Supplementary Estimates, necessary expenditure of £5,000 on the State pathology service will be met by a repayable advance from the Contingencies Fund.