Cash Limits (Hansard, 30 October 1989)

§ Mr. Chris Patten

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 £32,174,000 from £280,423,000 to £312,597,000 principally to cover additional grant in aid to the National Rivers Authority of £30,325,000, increased funding for the United Nations environment programme of £1,750,000, and increased grant in aid to the Sports Council of £600,000 in respect of take up of entitlement to carry forward underspending in 1988–89 under the end year flexibility scheme for capital expenditure.

The cash limit for class X, vote 4 (royal palaces, royal parks, historic buildings, ancient monuments and the national heritage) will be increased by £430,000 from £103,437,000 to £103,867,000 towards a compensation payment by the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission to the developers of the Rose theatre site, to enable preservation of the site for the public.

The cash limit for class X, vote 5 (Department of the Environment: administration) will be increased by £5,995,000 from £153,864,000 to £159,859,000 to provide for public information on lead-free petrol and further public information to increase awareness of the community charge system, in particular eligibility for community charge benefits and transitional relief.

The non-voted cash limit for DOE/UA1 (urban aid and derelict land reclamation) will be increased by £72,800,000 from £650,454,000 to £723,254,000 to cover increased grant-in-aid to London Docklands Development Corporation of £79,000,000 (of which £11,000,000 reflects the take up of entitlement to carry forward underspending in 1988–89 under the end year flexibility scheme for capital expenditure). The cash limit increase includes £4,000,000 covering the transfer of responsibility for city action teams from the Department of Trade and Industry to my Department. This has been offset by an equal reduction in the cash limits for class V, vote 2. There are some offsetting savings within the cash block.

The non-voted cash limit for DOE/NTI (new towns) has been increased by £14,889,000 from minus £435,535,000 to minus £420,646,000 reflecting take up of entitlement to carry forward underspending in 1988–89 under the end year flexibility scheme for capital expenditure.

The above increases will be partly offset by decreases in cash limits.

The cash limit for class IX, vote 2, (miscellaneous housing administration and grants) will be reduced by £5,535,000 from £84,952,000 to £79,417,000 reflecting principally reduced expenditure on housing action trusts and grant to the Housing Corporation for the reclamation of land in Merseyside.

The cash limit for DOE/HCI (capital expenditure by the Housing Corporation) will be reduced by £6,750,000 from £701,000,000 to £694,250,000. This includes full take up of entitlement to carry forward underspending in 1988–89 of £3,250,000 under the end year flexibility scheme for capital expenditure offset by a £10,000,000 reduction reflecting the fact that certain receipts formerly 83W surrendered to the Consolidated Fund will now be retained by the Housing Corporation. The cash limit reduction does not imply a reduction in planned gross expenditure.

The increases above will also be partly offset by decreases in non-cash-limited expenditure. The net increase in my Department's programmes will be charged to the Reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

I have also to announce on behalf of the director general of the Office of Water Services that the cash limit for class X, vote 10 (Office of Water Services) will be increased by £1,105,000 from £2,334,000 to £3,439,000, and the running costs limit for the Office of Water Services will be increased by £575,000 from £2,200,000 to £2,775,000. The increases will be charged to the Reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.