HC Deb 07 November 1996 vol 284 cc702-4W
Mr. Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for the Vale of Glamorgan (Mr. Sweeney) of 1 November,Official Report columns 295–96, if he will list the main sectors of NHS expenditure covered by the cash limit increase for vote 4 resulting from take-up of end-year flexibility; if he will list those health authorities affected by the take-up and the corresponding sums; and if he will make a statement. [3029]

Mr. Hague

More than £20 million of the expenditure requirement relates to NHS trusts and GP fundholders exercising their freedoms to carry-forward funds from year to year. Other main areas of expenditure include: the programme to expand dental provision; the clinical effectiveness scheme; and the provision of repayable loans to meet in-year service pressures. The precise amounts at authority level have yet to be finalised.

Mr. Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for the Vale of Glamorgan (Mr. Sweeney) of 1 November,Official Report columns 295–96, what assessment he has made of the consequences of the transfer of responsibility for urban investment grants to the Welsh Development Agency; from which bodies or departments responsibility for urban investment grants has been transferred and in what proportions of the total sums involved; if administrative staff previously responsible have been transferred with the responsibility; and if he will make a statement. [3025]

Mr. Hague

The urban investment grant scheme was previously operated by the Welsh Office; £3,882 million has been transferred to the WDA for 1996–97 to fund ongoing and new project. The Welsh Office staff previously responsible for management of the scheme are on secondment to the WDA until the end of December to ensure a smooth transition in the administration of the scheme.

Mr. Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for the Vale of Glamorgan (Mr. Sweeney) on 1 November,Official Report, columns 295–96, if he will list the principal reasons for the increase in the running costs limit of the Office of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Schools in Wales. [3027]

Mr. Hague

The reason for the increase in the running costs limit of the Office of Her Majesty's Inspectorate for Schools in Wales is the take-up of end-year flexibility as announced by the chief executive in his response to the hon. Member for Southport (Mr. Banks) on 12 July 1996,Official Report, columns 326–31. This will be largely used for funding early retirement; helping OHMCI to meet the targets set in the White Paper "Development and training for Civil Servants: A Framework for Action"; IT training; and, administrative support for nursery inspection.

Mr. Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for the Vale of Glamorgan (Mr. Sweeney) of 1 November,Official Report columns 295–96, if he will list the approximate percentages of the increase in his Department's running cost limit in the present financial year that is accounted for by (a) the BSE crisis, (b) the costs of the north Wales child abuse inquiry and (c) other reasons; what impact each of these factors has had on the head count of his Department's employees as to (i) permanent and (ii) temporary staff; and if he will make a statement. [3023]

Mr. Hague

The increase will be applied to a number of the Department's budgets, largely to support additional work on BSE and the north Wales inquiry. The work is involving some re-deployment of permanent staff supplemented by temporary support staff recruited in the usual way. A number of these staff also carry out other duties.

My Department keeps under continual review its staffing requirements to ensure that these and other areas of business are taken forward appropriately.

Mr. Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for the Vale of Glamorgan (Mr. Sweeney) of 1 November,Official Report, columns 295–96, what proportion of the cash limit increase in vote 2 is covered by the take-up of end-year flexibility; if he will list the principal schemes covered by such end-year flexibility take-up; and if he will make a statement. [3030]

Mr. Hague

Of the £14,906 million cash limit increase for class XIV, vote 2, £11,357 million was covered by the take-up of end-year-flexibility. Of this total, £1,378 million was allocated to the capital provision of grant-maintained schools and £127,000 to the Welsh Office multi-media and portable initiative. The balance contributed towards the net increase of £25.313 million in the Welsh Development Agency's grant in aid.

Mr. Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for the Vale of Glamorgan (Mr. Sweeney) of 1 November,Official Report, columns 295–96, what assessment he has made of the principal reasons for the lower than expected claims for agrienvironmental and farm conservation schemes; what impact the BSE crisis has had on the level of such applications; and if he will make a statement. [3026]

Mr. Hague

When payment rates are determined under environmental land management schemes administered by my Department, careful consideration is given to the need to achieve satisfactory uptake levels. Regular payment reviews are also undertaken to ensure that payment levels continue to be appropriately set. An example of this is the 20 per cent. increase in payment rates under the moorland scheme.

Payment levels alone may not be the only factor resulting in lower than anticipated uptake. Socio-economic evaluations of the impact of each scheme are carried out on a five-yearly basis. The reports of the socio-economic evaluations of the Cambrian mountains and Lleyn peninsula environmentally sensitive areas are available in the Library of the House. Reports relating to other schemes will be placed in the library of the House as they become available.

An assessment of the impact of BSE on the uptake of schemes has not been undertaken, although an increase in interest has been noticed.

Mr. Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for the Vale of Glamorgan (Mr. Sweeney) of 1 November,Official Report, columns 295–96, if he will list the principal components of that net cash limit increase in vote 3 which arise from the take-up of end-year flexibility. [3028]

Mr. Hague

As announced by my hon. Friend, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, on 12 July, end-year-flexibility entitlements for class XIV, vote 3 totalled £1,177,000. Of this amount, £262,000 was taken up to cover capital expenditure on the central Government roads programme and £915,000 to cover additional departmental running costs, including costs associated with the north Wales child abuse inquiry.