§ Mr. ButlerTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what changes he proposes to the Land Registry's cash and running costs for 1992–93.
Mr. John M. TaylorSubject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class X, vote 11 will be increased by £10,999,000 from a token £1,000 to £11,000,000. In addition, the net running costs limit for the Land Registry will be increased by £11,000,000 from zero to £11,000,000.
The Land Registry is a demand-led executive agency which relies on fees paid by its customers to cover its administrative costs which it has successfully achieved since 1976. The continuing low level of activity in the property market in England and Wales has resulted in the agency's workload (in units) being some 30 per cent. lower than originally anticipated. In order to keep its costs within the reducing income, the agency has restricted expenditure to 16 per cent. below the main estimate provision, but it is now clear that the total fee income for the year will fall short of forecast spending by the amount sought through the supplementary estimate. The agency's cashflow position has been made worse by the fact that some larger liabilities relating to its legal liability to indemnify for losses resulting from register and search errors have required payment. These increases will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.