HC Deb 14 July 1998 vol 316 cc137-42W
Mr. Browne

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will announce his plans for allocating total expenditure within his responsibility for 1999–2000, 2000–01 and 2001–02. [50861]

Mr. Dewar

The tables outline my plans for allocating the total expenditure for Scotland within my responsibility. The tables have been drawn up in accordance with the new public expenditure arrangements announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 11 June 1998,official report, columns 1195–1201. Thus they identify separately capital and current expenditure within the Departmental Expenditure Limit, Annually Managed Expenditure and resources which fall outwith my Department's Assigned Budget but form part of the Total Budget.

The plans, which are based firmly upon the operation of the Barnett formula provide for an additional £4bn of spending within the Departmental Spending Limit over the 3 years to 2002. In allocating these resources, I have placed particular emphasis on education, health and housing.

For education my proposals will ensure that all 3 year-olds will have the right to a free nursery place by 2002 and that by 2002 there will be 5,000 new classroom assistants in Scottish primary schools, giving a ratio of one adult for every 15 children. I will be establishing a new Excellence Fund to help deliver higher standards in schools and a promise of 42,000 more students entering Scottish colleges will guarantee that Scotland realises its economic potential as a "knowledge economy" of the future.

My second priority is to finance the creation of the most modern health service in Europe. My proposals will ensure that waiting lists will come down and stay down as the service invests for modernisation. By 2000, every hospital, clinic and GP surgery will be linked electronically to facilitate new developments such as one-stop clinics and instant personal booking for hospital appointments.

An additional £300m will be made available for housing. This will support the first steps towards a new future for Scotland's council houses built around the principles of greater community ownership and more private investment in our housing stock.

Beyond these core priorities I am making provision for the establishment of Parliament, including the construction of a world class Parliament building which will be the symbol of the new democracy in Scotland.

The plans also include investment and redeployment of resources across the range of my other programmes. With industry and training I am planning a radical shift from investment in physical infrastructure to a greater emphasis on human capital, and new investment in the commercialisation of research and the promotion of entrepreneurship. I am also planning major new investment in transport, where I will be establishing a new Scottish Public Transport Fund to encourage new public transport initiatives.

This is an excellent settlement for Scotland, demonstrating the concrete steps we are taking to encourage growth and employment, and to provide efficient and modern public services.

Table 1—Scottish Office Budget Summary
1997–98 £ million 1998–99 £ million 1999–2000 £ million 2000–01£ million 2001–02 £ million Growth over CSR period per cent.
Departmental expenditure limit1, 2 12,809 13,071 13,768 14,431 15,045 15.1
of which: capital expenditure 1,429 1,571 1,624 1,707 1,831 16.6
Annually managed expenditure
CAP 324 345 300 282 309 -10.4
Housing support grant 16 13 13 13 13 0.0
Total assigned budget3 13,148 13,429 14,080 14,726 15,367 14.4
New deal for schools4,5 10 29 27 27 27 -9.1
Non-domestic rates6 1,326 1,395 1,441 1,473 1,510 8.2
Total budget7 14,484 14,853 15,548 16,225 16,904 13.8
1Under the new public expenditure control arrangements and devolution, the Barnett formula used to determine Scottish expenditure applies to the Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) in place of the former Scottish Block. Full details of the definitional changes between the DEL and the Control Total were given in the "Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report 1998", published in June.
2Includes provision for the Crown Office, which will be within the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament.
3Total budget assigned to the Scottish Parliament. There are some differences between the coverage of the Assigned Budget and the former Scottish Block, the main one being the exclusion of non-domestic rates. Figures here include expenditure on Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowance of around £37 million per year which is included in the DEL but excluded from the Assigned Budget for control purposes until 1999–2000.
4Includes around £1 million for the New Deal for Young People in 1997–98 and £3 million for Childcare in 1998–99.
5Total expenditure financed by the Windfall Tax and administered by the Scottish Office. The majority of expenditure on the New Deal is administered for all of Great Britain by DfEE and DSS. Total expenditure in Scotland on the New Deal is projected to be over £450 million in the period 1997–2002.
6Figures for future years uprated in line with the RPI.
7Total Scottish public spending within the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament or administered by the Scottish Executive.

Table 2—Budget by programme
1997–98 £ million 1998–99 £ million 1999–2000 £ million 2000–01 £ million 2001–02 £ million Growth over CSR period per cent.
Central government support for:
Local Authority current expenditure1 5,431 5,448 5,688 5,864 6,014 10.4
Local Authority non-housing capital expenditure2 336 359 345 356 392 9.2
Other programme expenditure
Agriculture, fisheries and food3 514 517 478 464 496 -4.0
Arts, libraries and sport 86 77 80 82 84 8.7
Further, higher and other central government education (excluding student support) 941 914 1,013 1,070 1,136 24.3
Student support4 346 357 320 308 299 -16.2
Health 4,354 4,624 4,924 5,214 5,534 19.7
Housing5 422 498 524 634 655 31.6
Industry, enterprise and training6 589 599 555 558 608 1.6
Law, order and protective services7 452 460 487 488 508 10.3
Crown office 47 49 51 51 51 3.1
Other environmental services 336 328 323 325 327 -0.4
Scottish Parliament and staff 0 0 55 80 47
Other public services 155 160 183 194 191 19.5
Roads and transport8 242 245 267 270 282 15.1
Social work 63 66 74 77 81 23.8
European social funds and European regional development fund 161 123 153 163 173 40.7
New deal for schools9 10 29 27 27 27 -9.1
Total budget 14,484 14,583 15,548 16,226 16,904 13.8
1Includes non-domestic rate payments, which are outside the DEL
2The requirement that local authorities must use 50 per cent. of non-housing capital receipts to redeem debt will be abolished from 1 August 1998. This will allow local authorities to raise an estimated £75 million per annum extra from asset sales
3Includes market support under the CAP, which is outside the DEL
4Reflects the new Resource Accounting treatment of student loans announced in the "Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report 1998", hence it includes total expenditure on student grants, but only the subsidy element of student loans
5Expenditure funded through the Capital Receipts Initiative is now included in the DEL. Housing figures also include Housing Support Grant, which is outside the DEL
6This line covers industry, enterprise and training expenditure administered by the Scottish Office only. Further expenditure administered by other departments on the New Deal is projected to be around £75 million in 1998–99, and almost £90 million per year in each 1999–2000 to 2001–02
7A large proportion of spending on law, order and protective services is included under central government support to local authorities
8Includes support to nationalised industries
9Includes around £1 million for the New Deal for Young People in 1997–98 and £3 million for Childcare in 1998–99. Additional support for schools' capital expenditure is included in support for non-housing local authority capital expenditure above

Table 3—Scottish Office Budget Summary in real terms (1997–98 prices)
1997–98 £ million 1998–99 £ million 1999–2000 £ million 2000–01 £ million 2001–02 £ million Real growth over CSR period per cent.
Departmental expenditure limit1, 2 12,809 12,703 13,041 13,336 13,564 6.8
of which: capital expenditure 1,429 1,526 1,538 1,578 1,651 8.1
Annually managed expenditure
CAP 324 335 284 260 278 -16.9
Housing support grant 16 12 12 12 11 -7.2
Total assigned budget3 13,148 13,050 13,337 13,608 13,854 6.2
New deal for schools4, 5 10 29 25 25 24 -15.7
Non-domestic rates6 1,326 1,356 1,365 1,361 1,362 0.4
Total Budget7 14,484 14,435 14,727 14,994 15,240 5.6
1Under the new public expenditure control arrangements and devolution, the Barnet formula used to determine Scottish expenditure applies to the Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) in place of the former Scottish Block. Full details of the definitional changes between the DEL and the Control Total were given in the "Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report 1998", published in June
2Includes provision for the Crown Office, which will be within the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament
3Total budget assigned to the Scottish Parliament. There are some differences between the coverage of the Assigned Budget and the former Scottish Block, the main one being the exclusion of non-domestic rates. Figures here include expenditure on Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowance of around £37 million per year which is included in the DEL but excluded from the Assigned Budget for control purposes until 1999–2000
4Includes around £1 million for the New Deal for Young People in 1997–98 and £3 million for Childcare in 1998–99
5Total expenditure financed by the Windfall Tax and administered by the Scottish Office. The majority of expenditure on the New Deal is administered for all of Great Britain by DfEE and DSS. Total expenditure in Scotland on the New Deal is projected to be over £450 million in the period 1997–2002
6Figures for future years uprated in line with the RPI
7Total Scottish public spending within the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament or administered by the Scottish Executive.

Table 4—Budget by programme in real terms (1997–98 prices)
1997–98 £ million 1998–99 £ million 1999–2000 £ million 2000–01 £ million 2001–02 £ million Real growth over CSR period per cent.
Central government support for:
Local Authority current expenditure1 5,431 5,294 5,388 5,419 5,422 2.4
Local Authority non-housing capital expenditure2 336 349 327 329 354 1.3
Other programme expenditure
Agriculture, fisheries and food3 514 503 453 429 448 -11.0
Arts, libraries and sport 86 75 76 76 76 0.8
Further, higher and other central government education (excluding student support) 941 888 959 989 1,024 15.3
Student support4 346 347 304 285 270 -22.3
Health 4,354 4,494 4,664 4,818 4,989 11.0
Housing5 422 484 496 585 591 22.1
Industry, enterprise and training6 589 582 526 515 548 -5.8
Law, order and protective services7 452 447 461 451 458 2.3
Crown Office 47 48 48 47 46 -4.4
Other environmental services 336 318 306 300 294 -7.6
Scottish Parliament and staff 0 0 52 74 42
Other public services 155 155 174 180 172 10.8
Roads and transports8 242 238 253 250 254 6.7
Social work 63 64 70 72 73 14.8
European Social Funds and European Regional Development Fund 161 119 145 151 156 30.5
New Deal for schools9 10 29 25 25 24 -15.7
Total Budget 14,484 14,435 14,727 14,994 15,240 5.6
1Includes non-domestic rate payments, which are outside the DEL
2The requirement that local authorities must use 50 per cent. of non-housing capital receipts to redeem debt will be abolished from 1 August 1998. This will allow local authorities to raise an estimated £75 million per annum extra from asset sales
3Includes market support under the CAP, which is outside the DEL
4Reflects the new Resource Accounting treatment of student loans announced in the "Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report 1998", hence it includes total expenditure on student grants, but only the subsidy element of student loans.
5Expenditure funded through the Capital Receipts Inititative is now included in the DEL. Housing figures also include Housing Support Grant, which is outside the DEL
6This line covers Industry, enterprise and training expenditure administered by the Scottish Office only. Further expenditure administered by other departments on the New Deal is projected to be around £75 million in 1998–99, and almost £90 million per year in each of 1999–2000 to 2001–02
7A large proportion of spending on law, order and protective services is included under central government support to local authorities
8Includes support to nationalised industries
9Includes around £1 million for the New Deal for Young People in 1997–98 and £3 million for Childcare in 1998–99. Additional support for schools' capital expenditure is included in support for non-housing local authority capital expenditure above