HC Deb 27 October 1995 vol 264 cc831-3W
Mr. Riddick

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what changes will be made to the cash limits or running costs limits of her Department for 1995–96. [40638].

Mrs. Gillian Shephard

Subject to parliamentary approval of the supplementary estimate the following changes will be made: The cash limit for class V, vote 1—Department for Education and Employment: Employment programmes and central services—will be increased by £853,000 from £2,121,711,000 to £2,122,564,000. The cash limit for class V, vote 2—Department for Education and Employment: Employment Service—will be reduced by £848,000 from £907,800,000 to £906,952,000. The cash limit for class V, vote 1—Department for Education and Employment: Schools, research and miscellaneous services—will be increased by £12,639,000 from £722,844,000 to £735,483,000. The cash limit for class X, vote 2—Department for Education and Employment: higher and further education and student support—will be increased by £185,000 from £5,908,377,000 to £5,908,522,000. The cash limit for class X, vote 3—Department for Education and Employment: administration—will be reduced by £45,000 from £340,000 to £90,295,000. The running costs limit for class V, vote 1 will be £294,401,000, the running costs limit for class V, vote 2 will be £1,023,060,000, the running costs limit for class X, vote 3 will be £86,455,000. Therefore, the overall running costs for the Department for Education and Employment will be £1,403,916,000.

The cash limit increase on class V, vote 1 is as a result of a net transfer from the Employment Service to the Department for Education and Employment in respect of personnel functions and premises costs.

The cash limit reduction on class V, vote 2 is as a result of a net transfer of £887,000 to the Department for Education and Employment in respect of personnel functions and premises costs. This decrease is offset by a net transfer of £5,000 from the Welsh Office, class XV, vote 3, in respect of the accommodation costs of an office in Lampeter and a net transfer of £34,000 from class V, vote 2 in respect of manual giro reconciliation work.

The increase on class X, vote 1 is in respect of the take up of the capital end-year flexibility entitlement of £1,796,000 announced by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary on 13 July 1995, Official Report, columns 776–82, and provision of £10,900,000 for specialist schools which was within the Department's cash plans but held outside the vote until further information on the participating schools was available. This increase is offset by a contribution of £57,000 from the Welsh Office towards the funding of the special needs tribunal.

The cash limit on class X, vote 2 is to be increased by £185,000 to provide for an increase of that amount to the Higher Education Funding Council to cover the costs of students attending diploma in social work conversion courses as part of the probation officer training. This increase is offset by a reduction in the cash limit of class VIII, vote 1.

The cash limit for class X, vote 3, will be reduced from £90,340,000 to £90,295,000 to reflect the transfer of £45,000 to the Privy Council, class XIX, vote 3, to support the running costs of its central drugs co-ordination unit.

The running costs limit reduction is a result of transfer of provision to DTI (Class VI, vote 1), of to DoE (Class VII, vote 5) and of to CSO (class XVII, vote 12) as part of the machinery of government change, and as a result of a transfer of £45,000 to the Privy Council (class XIX, vote 3).

There will be an increase of £2,100,000 in the non-voted cash limit DFEE/LACAP for local authority capital for specialist schools. That amount was within the Department's cash plans but not added to the cash limit until further information on the participating schools was available. The local authority capital cash limit will be increased from £44,798,000 to £46,898,000.