HC Deb 13 February 2002 vol 380 cc364-5W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of the departmental expenditure limit in 2001–02 will be accounted for by salary costs and pension contributions. [32004]

Mr. Russell Brown

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans she has to change the Scotland departmental expenditure limits for 2001–02. [36574]

Mrs. Liddell

The Scotland departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be reduced by £76,755,000 from £17,173,692,000 to £17,096,937,000.

The DEL reduction takes account of the following: a reduction of £50,000,000 arising from the Scottish Transport Group pension disbursement; a reduction of £32,000,000 to offset a draw forward of EU structural funds agreed in the previous year; a reduction of £1,000,000 following a revision to the capital modernisation fund allocation announced in the winter supplementary estimate; an increase of £3,000,000 for the active communities initiative; an increase of £13,804,000 for costs relating to the Lockerbie trial; an increase of £661,000 for some additional policing in the wake of 11 September; an increase of £600,000 to support tourism following foot and mouth disease; an increase of £1,235,000 for rural business recovery; increases of £1,528,000 from match funding for charitable donations to the Addington fund for foot and mouth disease.

The DEL reduction also includes the following transfers to and from other Government Departments, amounting to a net reduction of £11,883,000. These are: net transfers of £84,000 from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES); net transfers of £8,540,000 from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA); a transfer of £1,075,000 from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP); a transfer of £73,000 to the National Assembly for Wales; net transfers of £4,696,000 from the Home Office; a transfer of £284,000 from the Northern Ireland Executive; net transfers of £26,489,000 to the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions.

All of these changes relate to the resource budget, and the capital budget of £100,000 is unchanged.

An addition to the Scotland DEL for 2002–03 of £13,619 million will be made in respect of adjustments allowed for in the statement of funding policy, in relation to the impact of local authorities' decisions regarding council tax and rents on council tax rebate for 2000–01 and 2001–02.