§ Ms LawrenceTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what changes he is proposing to make to(a) voted and (b) non-voted cash limits for his Department and the Office of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in Wales for the current financial year. [71256]
§ Mr. MichaelSubject to Parliament's approval of the related Supplementary Estimates, I propose the following changes.
The cash limit on class XIV, vote 1 will be increased by £14,737,000 from £42,735,000 to £57,472,000 as result of an increase in the Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowance Scheme announced as part of the Farmers Package on 16 November 1998.
The cash limit on class XIV, vote 2 will be increased by £12,148,000 from £839,776,000 to £851,924,000. This increase results mainly from (a) an increase in the grant in aid of the Welsh Development Agency of £5,161,000 to compensate for receipts which will now be realised during 1999–2000 (b) an increase in the provision for Regional Selective Assistance of £8,775,000 to provide for the latest forecast of claims to be paid this year; (c) the take up of £1,962,000 to fund the Coalfields Regeneration Trust; and (d) a reduction in the Training budgets of £4,000,000 due to lower than expected demand for training courses funded out of Welsh Office budgets.
The cash limit on class XIV, vote 3 will be increased by £55,494,000 from £414,195,000 to £469,689,000. This increase results mainly from (a) an increase in the Central Government Roads programme of £10,000,000 to fund essential maintenance work (b) a transfer of provision for Housing of £51,943,000 from non-cash limited budgets to cash limited provision to effect the merger of Tai Cymru with the Welsh Office from 1 November 1998 (this is offset by a reduction in the non-voted cash limit for Tai Cymru); (c) an increase of £2,100,000 for the North Wales Child Abuse Inquiry; (d) an additional £1,800,000 for the Mental Handicap Strategy (e) £1,000,000 for the Looked After Children Development Fund (f) an increase of £300,000 in the grant in aid for the Wales Tourist Board for additional marketing (f) a reduction of £7,500,000 in the grant in aid for Cardiff Bay Development Corporation because of slippage on the Cardiff Bay Barrage project (g) a reduction of £3,500,000 in the provision for Transport Grant because of slippage on approved projects and (h) a reduction of £1,400,000 in this year's provision for the costs associated with Devolution.
The running costs limit on class XIV, vote 3 will be increased by £2,507,000 from £79,784,000 to £82,291,100 as a result of the merger of Tai Cymru and costs associated with the dissolution of the Welsh Health Common Services Authority.
The cash limit on class XIV, vote 4 will be increased by £12,705,000 from £2,116,930,000 to £2,129,635,000 mainly as a result of the Winter Emergencies money for the National Health Service announced in November and a transfer of £211,000 from class XI, vote 1 in respect of 400W Professions Allied to Medicine. The external financing limit for NHS Trusts will be reduced by £3,006,000 from £52,676,000 to £49,670,000.
The cash limit on class XIV, vote 6 will be increased by £1,125,000 from £7,768,000 to £8,893,000 as a result of payments due this year for VAT.
There will be an increase in the non-voted local authority capital cash limit (WO/LACAP) of £4,200,000 from £373,444,000 to £377,644,000 to allow for an increase in the provision for Housing Renovation Grants.
The non-voted housing cash limit WO/TC has been wound-up as a result of the merger of Tai Cymru with the Welsh Office on 1 November 1998. The remaining provision has been transferred to the cash limit on class XIV, vote 3.
The increases will be offset by transfers or charges to the Reserve and will not therefore add to the overall level of planned public expenditure.