Cash Limits (Hansard, 1 November 1993)

§ Mr. Redwood

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, the cash limit on class XV, vote 2 will be increased by £4,660,000 from £169,280,000 to £173,940,000; the cash limit on class XV, vote 4 will be increased by £436,000 from £151,316,000 to £151,752,000; the cash limit on class XV, vote 5 will be increased by £9,861,000 from £787,498,000 to £797,359,000; the cash limit on class XV, vote 8 will be increased by £7,382,000 from £1,374,344,000 to £1,381,726,000; the cash limit on class XV, vote 9 will be reduced by £141,000 from £65,283,000 to £65,142,000; the cash limit on class XV, vote 10 will be increased by £408,000 from £2,150,156,000 to £2,150,564,000; the cash limit on class XV, vote 12 will be increased by £377,000 from £3,861,000 to £4,238,000. The local authority capital limit—WO/LACAP—will be reduced by £8,576,000 from £417,761,000 to £409,185,000; the cash limit on the European regional development fund—WO/ERDF—will be reduced by £20,000,000 from £70,650,000 to £50,650,000; the urban block cash limit —WO/UA—will be increased by £4,729,000 from £85,696,000 to £90,425,000; the running costs limit for the Department will be reduced by £82,000 from £77,366,000 to £77,284,000. The running costs limit for the Office of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in Wales will be increased by £462,000 from £2,755,000 to £3,217,000.

The increase in the cash limit for vote 2 is in respect of the take-up of end-year flexibility entitlement of £4,660,000.

The increase in the cash limit for vote 4 represents the net effect of (i) an increase of £1,800,000 in respect of the training and vocational education initiative; (ii) an increase of £200,000 in respect of training for work; and (iii) a reduction of £1,564,000 in respect of youth training. The £1,564,000 represents a decrease in provision following a cash limit overspend in 1992–93.

The increase in the cash limit for vote 5 comprises mainly (i) the take-up of end-year flexibility entitlement of £92,000 for running costs; (ii) additional provision for 53W motorways and trunk roads of £20,395,000, of which £3,065,000 represents the take-up of capital end-year flexibility entitlement; partly offset by (iii) a transfer of £8,500,000 to class XV, vote 6; and (iv) a transfer of £150,000 to class XV, vote 8.

The increase in the cash limit for vote 8 comprises the take-up of end year flexibility entitlement (£7,232,000) and a transfer from class XV, vote 5 (£150,000).

The reduction in the cash limit for vote 9 comprises mainly (i) a transfer of resources to class XV, vote 12 (£479,000); partly offset by (ii) the take-up of end-year flexibility entitlement of £273,000 for running costs and (iii) the take-up of end-year flexibility entitlement of £50,000 for capital.

The increase in the cash limit for vote 10 is in respect of valuation tribunal expenditure.

The increase in the cash limit for vote 12 represents the net effect of transfers of £48,000 and £479,000 from class XV, votes 5 and 9 respectively; partly offset by a reduction of £150,000 in respect of the costs of inspections by registered inspectors.

There are also changes to several non-voted cash limits. The reduction in the cash limit for WO/LACAP represents an offsetting saving to increases elsewhere in the Welsh Office block. The reduction in the cash limit for WO/ERDF reflects lower-than-expected expenditure on ERDF projects in 1993–94.

The increase in the cash limit for WO/UA covers additional provision for the urban programme, urban investment grant and the Cardiff Bay development corporation, of which £3,729,000 represents the take-up of end-year flexibility entitlement.

The entitlement to end-year flexibility for votes 2, 5, 8 and 9 and for WO/UA were announced by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 14 July. So also was the increase in the Department's running costs limit, which features in both vote 5 (£92,000) and vote 9 (£273,000).

None of the proposed changes will add to the planned total of public expenditure.