§ Mr. Hawkinsasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether any changes will be made to his Department's cash limits or running costs limits for 1987–88.
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§ Mr. FowlerSubject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimates, the following changes will be made. The cash limit on class VII, vote 1 employment programmes will be increased by £19,465,000 from £1,394,811,000 to £1,414,276,000 mainly due to increased expenditure of £20 million on the community programme, where take-up is running at a higher level than expected, partly offset by minor switches elsewhere.
This increase is more than offset by a reduction of £38,275,000 in the cash limit on class VII, vote 5 Manpower Services Commission from £1,988,128,000 to £1,949,853,000. £28 million of this reduction is due to lower than expected initial take-up of the new job training scheme; and superannuation costs will be around £8.5 million lower following the transfer of certain MSC staff to the Department of Employment. The remaining £2 million reduction is due to a lower than anticipated number of entrants to the youth training scheme.
The cash limit on class VII, vote 4 Health and Safety Commission is increased by £500,000 from £93,735,000 to £94,235,000. Increased expenditure of £1,013,000 to enable the nuclear installations inspectorate to recruit up to their agreed complement of inspectors and to meet other extra running costs not foreseen when Main Estimates were set, is partly offset by extra receipts of £513,000 on this vote. The remaining £500,000 increase in the cash limit is offset by a £450,000 reduction in the cash limit on DHSS administration and miscellaneous services Vote class XV, vote 5 and a £50,000 reduction in the cash limit on the Department of Energy's administration and miscellaneous services vote class VI, vote 3.
There is a token £1,000 increase in the DE administration cash limit class VII, vote 2. Therefore overall there is a net reduction in DE Group cash limits of £18,309,000. The Department of Employment's running costs limit will be increased by £74,277,000 from £400,098,000 to £474,375,000. This is the net effect of machinery of government changes, and reduced spending on unemployment benefit administration which the Department of Employment operates as agent for the Department of Health and Social Security arising from lower unemployment, part of which is used as an offset to an increase in the HSC's running costs limit.
The Health and Safety Commission's running costs limit is increased by £1,013,000 from £86,516,000 to £87,529,000. This increase is fully offset by the reduction within the changes to the Department of Employment's running costs limit referred to above and a reduction in the Department of Energy's running costs limit.
The Manpower Services Commission's running costs limit is reduced by £88,207,000 from £434,750,000 to £346,543,000. This is the result of the transfer to the Department of Employment class VII, vote 2 of certain MSC staff engaged on enterprise and employment functions.
Consequently the running costs total for the Department of Employment group as a whole is reduced by £12,917,000 from £937,076,000 to £924,159,000.