§ Sir William van Straubenzeeasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about the cash limit for Northern Ireland departmental services for 1986–87.
§ Mr. ScottThe cash limit for Northern Ireland departmental services (NIDI) for 1986–87 has been increased by £7.9 million, from £2,292.2 million to £2,300.1 million. This reflects three additions: £1. million in respect of a final assessment of the net changes to the Northern Ireland programme to reflect changes in comparable programmes in England in the 1985 public expenditure survey; £5.2 million following the package of enterprise and employment measures for Northern Ireland announced on 26 March; and £1.6 million to enable hospital and community health services to continue to be delivered and developed as planned following the decision to implement from 1 July 1986 the recommendations of the NHS pay review bodies as announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 22 May, at columns239–44. These three increases are offset by a reduction reflecting a transfer of £0.5 million from the NIDI cash limit to the cash limits of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland in respect of the transfer of milk quota announced on 18 September. The total increase of £7.9 million is being met from the reserve and does not therefore add to the total of public expenditure.