§ Mr. SweeneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what changes he proposes to make to the cash limits for his Department for the current financial year.
§ Mr. RedwoodSubject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, the cash limit on class XV, vote 2 will be reduced by £8,000,000 from 813W £153,581,000 to £145,581,000; the cash limit on class XV, vote 4 will be increased by £6,810,000 from £570,153,000 to £576,963,000, the cash limit on class XV, vote 8 will be reduced by £7,230,000 from £1,511,411,000 to £1,504,211,000; and the cash limit on class XV, vote 10 will be reduced by £1,000,000 from £2,214,412,000 to £2,213,412,000.
The decrease on the cash limit for vote 2 results mainly from lower than expected expenditure on agricultural and environmental schemes and slippage on arterial drainage, flood and coast protection grant schemes. The increase in the cash limit for vote 4 will provide for an additional £4,500,000 for the Higher Education Funding Council for equipment and building maintenance, £2,000,000 for equipment to expand the modern apprenticeship scheme and £310,000 for the enterprise initiative consultancy scheme transferred from class IV, vote 1.
The net decrease in the cash limit for vote 8 allows mainly for an additional £2,500,000 for improvements to the community dental service and a transfer of £9,757,000 of provision to class XV, vote 7 in respect of a revised estimate of drug expenditure for GP fundholders. This transfer comprises part of a spring supplementary estimate for class XV, vote 7 of £23,051,000.
The reduction of £1,000,000 in the cash limit for vote 10 results mainly from lower than expected unit costs at the Valuation Office Agency.
None of the proposed changes will add to the planned total of public expenditure.