§ Mr. FavellTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services whether any changes will be made to the cash limits and gross running costs for his Department.
§ Mr. ScottSubject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimates, the cash limit for Class XIV, Vote 1 (Hospital and Community Health Services) will be increased by £109,461,000 (from £10,339,619,000 to £10,449,080,000) following the announcements on 23 October 1987 and 16 December 1987, and including £44 million to reflect a change in health authoritis' carry forward arrangements. The cash limit for Class XIV, Vote 3 (Miscellaneous Health Services and and Personal Social Services, England) will be increased by £13,803,000 (from £403,152,000 to £416,955,000). This increase comprises an increased allocation of £2,500,000 to maintain services following the rising number of AIDS cases as announced on 23 October 1987; an additional £10 million for a grant to the Haemophilia Society of Great Britain as announced on 16 November 1987; and the transfer of £2,223,000 from Class XV, Vote 5, for DHSS staff made available to the Disablement Services Authority with effect from the authority's creation on 1 July 1987. These increases are partly offset by a reduction of £920,000 in respect of the repayment of a grant which had been made to a voluntary organisation in respect of a community home. The provision for running costs on Class XIV, Vote 3, is increased by £3,318,000. This increase will not result in an increase in the overall DHSS running costs limit.
The cash limit for Class XV, Vote 5, (Administration and Miscellaneous Services) has been increased by £2.777 million from £1,339.919 million to £1,342.696 million. The revision takes account of the additional administrative costs associated with the special payment exercise to compensate for the error in the RPI, namely £5 million, and the transfer of £2.223 million, provision for the Disablement Services Authority, to the Vote for miscellaneous health services and personal social services, Class XIV, Vote 3.
As a result of the above-mentioned transfer to health and personal social services and the additional requirement, the gross running costs limit of the Department of Health and Social Security is increased by £5 million from £1,700.678 million to £1,705.678.
The additional £5 million costs are not being met from the "savings" that accrued because of the RPI error. The 761W public expenditure costs of these changes have been charged to the reserve and do not add to the public expenditure planning total.