HC Deb 01 February 1996 vol 270 cc908-10W
Mr. Clifton-Brown

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what changes she has made to cash limits and running cost limits on votes within her responsibility for the year 1995–96. [13546]

Mrs. Gillian Shephard

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, the cash limits for class V, vote 1, employment programmes and central services; class V, vote 2, Department for Education and Employment: Employment Service; class X, vote 1, schools research and miscellaneous services; class X, vote 3, Department for Education: administration; and class X, vote 5, Office of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in England, will be amended as follows:

Class Vote Existing cash limit Change New cash limit
V 1 2,122,564,000 9,480,000 2,132,044,000
V 2 906,952,000 -8,600,000 898,352,000
X 1 735,483,000 -75,000 735,408,000
X 3 90,295,000 -2,000,000 88,295,000
X 5 98,152,000 -12,875,000 85,277,000

The cash limit for class V, vote 1 will be increased by £9,480,000 from £2,122,564,000 to £2,132,044,000. This is as a result of a running costs transfer of £11,600,000 from the Employment Service—£2,700,000 for jobseeker's allowance consultancy costs and £8,900,00 to cover restructuring costs—offset by a transfer of £1,983,000 to the Department for Social Security class XIII, vote 1 for youth training provision; and additional receipts in respect of a recovery of VAT on consultancy fees totalling £138,000. A new net subhead is also being added to the vote for agency payments on behalf of the European regional development fund. The increase will be offset by transfers and a charge to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

The running costs limit for class V, vote 1 will increase by £4,992,000 from £294,401,000 to £299,393,000 as a result of the transfer of running costs of £11,600,000 from the Employment service class V, vote 2, offset by a transfer of £6,608,000 to the Department for Trade and Industry class IX, vote 1, as part of the machinery of government changes announced on 5 July 1995.

The cash limit for class V, vote 2, will be reduced by £8,600,000 from £906,952,000 to £898,352,000. The running costs limit for that vote will be reduced by £12,600,000 from £1,023,060,000 to £1,010,460,000. This is as a result of transfers of £11,600,000 to class V, vote 1 in respect of additional jobseeker's allowance consunltancy costs and restructuring costs, and of £1,000,000 to the Department of Social Security in respect of salary costs of staff transferred to the Benefits Agency. This decrease is offset by capital transfers of £2,000,000 from class X, vote 3 and the take-up of £2,000,000 under the capital end year flexibility scheme from class V, vote 1 in respect of labour market system infrastructure requirements and rationalisation of the Employment Service estate.

The gross running costs limit for the Department for Education and Employment is reduced by £7,608,000 from £1,403,916,000 to £1,396,308,000 as a result of the running costs changes to class V, votes 1 and 2.

The cash limit on class X, vote 1 will be reduced by £75,000 from £735,483,000 to £735,408,000 as a result of a transfer of £25,000 to the Office of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in England to cover the costs of setting up an inspection framework for institutions intending to take part in the new arrangements for the education of the under-fives and a transfer of £50,000 to the Department of Social Security to cover work undertaken in connection with the new under-fives arrangements.

Payments will be made from class X, vote 1 to capita, the body selected to administer the new under-fives arrangements, to cover the setting-up costs of the new scheme. There will be no change in the net provision on the vote as a result.

The cash limit for class X, vote 3 will be reduced by £2,000,000 from £90,295,000 to £88,295,000. This is as a result of the transfer of £2,000,000 of capital provision to the Employment Service class V, vote 2.

The cash limit for class X, vote 5 will be decreased by £12,875,000 from £98,152,000 to £85,277,000. This is as a result of a reduction in forecast expenditure on the inspection of schools. The running costs limit will be increased by £25,000 from £28,451,000 to £28,476,000.

This is to allow a transfer of £25,000 from class X, vote 1, to cover the costs of setting up an inspection framework for the pre-school sector.

The opportunity is also being taken to increase provision for appropriations in aid to class X, vote 5 of additional receipts in the form of VAT refunds. This is to offset increased payments resulting from greater contracting out to the private sector. There will be no change in the net provision as a result.

The planned total of public expenditure for these votes is reduced by £14,070,000 as a result.