HL Deb 15 June 1994 vol 555 cc101-2WA
Lord Gainford

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they propose to make any changes to the Department of the Environment's cash limits in 1994–95.

The Earl of Arran

Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary revised estimate, the cash limit for Class VII, Vote 8 (revenue support grant, payments of non-domestic rates, Valuation Office services, etc, England) will be reduced by £2,900,000 from £29,635,066,000 to £29,632,166,000. This comprises a reduction of £4,400,000 in provision for Valuation Office rating services and an offsetting increase of £1,500,000 for Valuation Office banding and valuation services. £1,550,000 of the savings will be used to support increased expenditure on Class VII, Vote 12 (council tax transitional reduction grant,, community charge grants, emergency financial assis-tance to local authorities, non-domestic rates outturn payments, etc, England). The remaining savings of £1,350,000 will be surrendered to the Consolidated Fund.

Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary revised estimate, the cash limit for Class VII, Vote 11 (PSA Services) will be reduced by £25,000,000 from £123,693,000 to £98,693,000, and the net running cost limit on this vote will reduce by £25,000,000 from £123,293,000 to £98,293,000. The reduction reflects savings achieved in the residuary functions, and reductions in severance figures and secondee numbers arising out of most recent forecasts following the sales of the former PSA Building Management businesses.

In addition, and subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for Class VII, Vote 13 (Sale of PSA Businesses) will be increased by £9,449,000 from £401,000 to £9,850,000. The increase will not constitute a claim on the reserve as it will be netted off the proceeds from the Government's privatisation programme. The provision is sought, as provided for in the sales agreements, to fund adjustments to cash assets following reviews of the completion statements of the PSA Building Management businesses post-sale, and to contribute to the costs incurred by the purchasers of both PSA Projects and the building management businesses in making transferred staff redundant.

Increases on Votes 8 and 12 will be offset by reductions in other cash limited expenditure and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.