HC Deb 04 February 1994 vol 236 cc962-4W
Mr. Kynoch

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what changes the Lord Advocate proposes to the Crown Office cash and running costs limits for 1993–94.

Mr. Lang

The cash limit for class IX, vote 12—Crown Office, Scotland, procurator fiscal service and Lord Advocate's Department: administration—will be reduced by £400,000 from £39,495,000 to £39,095,000. Within this total, the running cost limit will be reduced by £400,000 from £33,722,000 to £33,322,000. The resultant saving will, subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, fully offset additional expenditure on class IX, vote 13—Crown Office, Scotland: Crown prosecutions and legal services—resulting from increased court activity and consequential higher than expected witness costs.

Mr. Kynoch

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what changes he intends to make to the cash limits and running costs provision for 1993–94 within his responsibility.

Mr. Lang

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, I intend to make changes to seven voted cash limits, one non-voted cash block and three running costs limit:

  1. (a) The cash limit for class XIV, vote 2, agricultural services, Scotland, will be decreased by £6,500,000 from £123,838,000 to £117,338,000. The reduction arises mainly from lower than expected demand for structural measures and accompanying measures to CAP reform.
  2. (b) The cash limit for class XIV, vote 7, housing and environmental services, Scotland, will be increased by £12,703,000 from £418,959,000 to £431,662,000. The increase takes account of £11,112,000 increase in Scottish Homes' grant in aid to assist housing associations in the acquistion of local authority and new town development corporation housing stock; an increase in provision of £1,589,000 in housing support grant; and an increase in provision of £2,000 to meet an unanticipated shortfall in appropriations in aid of repayment of loans and grants by first-time buyers. These increases will be partly offset by a reduction in the SO/LA2 cash block. There is also an increase of £200,000 from £12,838,000 to £13,038,000 in the running cost provision for Historic Scotland; this will be offset by an increase in the agency's appropriations in aid from £7,674,000 to £7,874,000. In effect this means that there is a net increase of £198,000 in appropriation in aid on the vote as a whole.
  3. (c) The cash limit for class XIV, vote 12, law, order, miscellaneous health and social work services, Scotland, will be increased by a net total of £2,453,000 from £283,532,000 to £285,985,000. The supplementary estimate allows for an increase in provision of £2,371,000 for the Scottish Criminal Records Office; and an increase in running cost provision of £400,000 for the Scottish Prison Service. These will be partially offset by transfers from other votes.
  4. (d) The cash limit for class XIV, vote 14, hospital community health, family health—part—and other health services, Scotland, will be decreased by a net total of £17,724,000 from £2,784,391,000 to £2,766,667,000. The decrease takes account of a transfer of £21,042,000 to class XIV, vote 13 for changes in the requirements for GP practice

Members of the Parole Board for Scotland—1994
Members Year of first appointment Designation
J. M. Scott 1982 (member) Social work Chairman
1992 (Chair for 2 years Former District Manager, Strathclyde regional Social Work Department; former member of the Local Review Committee for Dumfries Young Offenders Institution
I. McNee 1989 Independent Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Macdonald Lindsay Pindar pic; former Chairman, Lothian Region Children's Panel
D. S. Aitchison 1989 Independent Former Assistant Chief Constable, Strathclyde Police
Dr. J. Baird 1992 Psychiatrist Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist, Douglas Inch Centre, Glasgow
Mrs. M. Casserly 1990 Social work District Officer (Adult Care), Strathclyde Region, Social Work Department
  1. fundholders and the external financing limit for NHS trusts; and transfers of £2,000,000 to class XIV, vote 12 and £318,000 from class XII, vote 3. There is also an increase of £5,000,000 in health boards' capital expenditure which will be offset by increased receipts from the sale of land and buildings. The increase in the NHS trusts' external financing limit includes £438,000 for take-up of the end-year flexibility entitlement.
  2. (e) The cash limit for class XIV, vote 19, administration of justice, Scotland, will be decreased by £2,300,000 from £53,005,000 to £50,705,000. The decrease is due to fewer than expected cases arising under the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1993.
  3. (f) The cash limit for class XIV, vote 21, Scottish Office administration, will be increased by a net total of £1,142,000 from £164,436,000 to £165,578,000. The increase results from a transfer of £195,000 from the Property Holdings agency in respect of maintenance charges; a transfer of £1,000,000 from class XIV, vote 19, as a result of running costs being redeployed; a tranfer of provision of £25,000 to class XIV, vote 12, the Scottish Office Pensions Agency for the provision of security staff; and a transfer of provision of £28,000 to class XIV, vote 12 for capital provision for the Scottish fire service.
  4. (g) The cash limit for class XIV, vote 22, Scottish Record Office, will be increased by £26,000 from £10,269,000 to £10,295,000 as a result of a transfer from the Property Holdings agency in respect of maintenance charges.
  5. (h) The non-voted cash block SO/LA2, which covers housing capital expenditure by local authorities and capital expenditure by new towns, will be decreased by £11,112,000 from £275,414,000 to £264,302,000. This will fully offset the increase in Scottish Homes grant in aid in class XIV, vote 7.
As a result of the transfers mentioned for votes 7, 12 and 21, the Scottish Office running cost/limit will increase by £1,795,000 from £332,856,000 to £334,651,000. The change to class XIV, vote 19, Scottish courts administration, requires a decrease in their running cost limit of £2,300,000 from £42,758,000 to £40,458,000. The change to class XIV, vote 22, Scottish Records Office requires an increase in its running cost limit of £26,000 from £4,054,000 to £4,080,000. The increases will be offset by savings on other votes within my responsibility and from the reserve. There will not therefore be any addition to the planned total of public expenditure.

Forward to