HC Deb 31 October 1988 vol 139 c539W
Mr. Baldry

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any changes to announce to his Departments cash limits for 1988–89.

Mr. Nicholas Ridley

Yes, I propose the following changes, subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimates.

The cash limit for Class X, Vote 2 (Central environmental services, etc) will be increased by £5.571 million from £244.612 million to £250.183 million, primarily to enable an endowment to be made to the Zoological Society of London. This endowment has in part been financed by offsetting savings within the Vote.

The cash limit for Class X, Vote 5 (Department of the Environment: administration) will be increased by £5.9 million from £123.437 million to £129.337 million to cover additional administrative expenditure, in relation to the privatisation of the regional water authorities. The Department's running costs limit will be increased by £4.8 million from £155.062 million to £159.862 million.

The cash limit for Class X, Vote 9 (Sale of shares in the water services public limited companies, etc) will be increased by £2.7 million from £2.44 million to £5.14 million to cover increased costs of advisors.

The non-voted cash limit for urban aid (DOE/UAI) will be increased by £20 million from £526.496 million to £546.496 million to provide for an increase in the external finance limit of the London Docklands development corporation of £38 million. This increase has been met in part from within the present cash limit.

These increases, together with other increases in non-cash limited public expenditure (primarily in relation to housing subsidies paid to local authorities), have been offset by reductions, and will not therefore add to the total of planned public expenditure. The non-voted cash limit for the new towns (DOE/NTI) has been reduced by £100 million from minus £289.743 million to minus £389.743 million to take account of disposals of property which are higher than forecast. The cash limit for Class IX, Vote 2 (Miscellaneous housing administration and grants) has been reduced £1.709 million from £73.075 million to £71.366 million, primarily to take account of lower than expected expenditure by housing action trusts.