HC Deb 06 November 1991 vol 198 cc140-1W
Mr. Pawsey

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has any changes to announce to cash limits on votes within his responsibility for 1991–92.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, the cash limits for class XI, vote 1, schools, research and miscellaneous services, class XI, vote 2, higher and further education, and class XI, vote 4, administration will be changed. The cash limit changes are as follows:

Class and vote Current cash limit Change Revised/cash limit
£ £ £
Class XI, vote 1 712,863,000 +5,607,000 718,470,000
Class XI, vote 2 2,916,285,000 +518,000 2,916,803,000
Class XI, vote 4 98,692,000 +7,925,000 106,617,000

The increase on class XI, vote 1 includes the full take-up of capital end-year flexibility entitlement of £6,085,000 announced by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 17 July 1991, columns 186–89. It takes account of the transfer to the Overseas Development Administration of £300,000 towards covering the shortfall between the contribution from the European Commission and the level of fees levied by higher education institutions for students coming to the United Kingdom from central and eastern Europe under the trans-European mobility scheme for university studies (TEM PUS) for which the British Council is undertaking administration of United Kingdom participation; and a transfer of £178,000 to class XI, vote 2.

The increase on class XI, vote 2 includes provision for a transfer of responsibility to the Universities Funding Council for course costs in training for social work. This is offset by decreases in provision for the Department of Health (class XIII, vote 3), the Home Office (class IX, vote 3) and the Welsh Office (class XVI, vote 5). The vote 2 increase also makes provision for the preparatory costs of establishing new funding arrangements for further education in England, offset by a reduction in provision on vote 1 and in provision on vote 2 for bursaries for the training of teachers in shortage subjects.

The increase on class XI, vote 4 includes the full take-up of capital (£2,000,000) and running costs (£404,000) end-year flexibility entitlement. It provides for slippage of expenditure associated with the Department's new headquarters building. It also provides for a further transfer (£200,000) from the Department of the Environment towards the costs of the sport and recreation directorate following the transfer of responsibility for sport to my Department. The increase is net of a transfer of £78,000 to the Department of Employment to reflect that Department's responsibility for the secretariat of the School Teachers' Review Body. The net effect of the changes to running costs is to increase the limit by £526,000 from £96,445,000 to £96,971,000.

These changes are within the forecast outturn for the planning total included in the Chancellor's autumn statement today.