HC Deb 24 May 1990 vol 173 c274W
Mr. David Davis

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any changes to announce to his Department's cash limits.

Mr. Chris Patten

Yes. Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary revised estimates:

  1. (a) the cash limit for class VIII, vote 2 (miscellaneous housing administration and grants) will be reduced by £24,876,000 from £122,908,000 to £98,032,000. There will be a reduction of £25,000,000 on housing action trusts (HATs) as a result of the decision of tenants not to proceed with a HAT in Sunderland. This reduction will be partly offset by increases totalling £124,000 elsewhere on the vote;
  2. (b) the cash limit for class VIII, vote 5 (central environmental services, etc.) will be reduced by £700,000 from £358,596,000 to £357,896,000. This reduction relates mainly to the transfer of responsibility for the Football Licensing Authority (£670,000) to the Home Office from my Department. There is also a transfer of £30,000 to my Department's class VIII, vote 6 (royal palaces, royal parks, historic buildings, ancient monuments and the national heritage) to provide additional funding for the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission to recreate certain documents of importance that were accidentally destroyed;
  3. (c) the cash limit for Class VIII, Vote 6 (royal palaces, royal parks, historic buildings etc.) will be reduced by £305,000 from £150,152,000 to £149,847,000). This reduction relates to the transfer of responsibility for external repair of Horseguards Building to the Ministry of Defence (£235,000), and for road rescue archaeology to the Department of Transport (£100,000). The net reduction of £305,000 on this vote takes account of £30,000 transferred from class VIII, vote 5 to which I referred earlier.