§ Mr. DismoreTo ask the Solicitor-General what proposals there are to amend the Attorney-General's Department's Departmental Expenditure Limit and Running Costs Limit for 1999–2000. [108702]
The Solicitor-GeneralSubject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimates for Class V, Vote 4 (The Crown Prosecution Service) and Class V, Vote 6 (HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor), the Attorney-General's Department's Departmental Expenditure Limit for 1999–2000 will be increased by £6,596,000 from £335,295,000 to £341,891,000.
The Crown Prosecution Service's Running Costs Limit will be increased by £496,000 from £227,625,000 to £228,121,000. This increase is required to fund preparatory work to modernise the Crown Prosecution Service information technology infrastructure.
HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor's Running Costs Limit will be increased by £5,600,000 from £4,735,000 to £10,335,000. Appropriations in aid will also be reduced by £3,400,000. This will fund expenditure arising from the closure of the Government Property Lawyers Agency on 30 September 1999, which was announced to the House by answer to a Parliamentary Question on 11 November 1998, Official Report, column 187W.
The increases will be offset by the surrender of £589,000 of the Attorney General's Department's End Year Flexibility of £612,000 as announced by the Chief 675W Secretary to the Treasury on 27 July 1999, Official Report, column 393W. £93,000 of this will be transferred to the Home Office in respect of the CPS contribution towards the cost of Integrating Business and Information Systems in the Criminal Justice System (IBIS).
The remainder of the expenditure will be charged to the Reserve and will not, therefore, add to the planned total of public expenditure.