HL Deb 22 February 2005 vol 669 cc51-3WS
Baroness Amos

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development (Mr. Hilary Benn) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the Department for International Development departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £163,106,000 from £3,758,690,000 to £3,921,796,000 and the administration costs limit will be increased by £10,024,000 from £222,000,000 to £232,024,000, Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table.

£'000s
Change Voted New DEL Non-voted Total
Resource 136,078 3,293,768 607,500 3,901,268
Capital 22,528 40,528 40,528
Depreciation* 4,500 -20,000 -20,000
Total 163,106 3,314,296 607,500 3,921,796

* Depreciation. which forms part of the resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL. since capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:

Voted

A partial draw down of £10,000,000 of administration costs end year flexibility, as set out in the Public Expenditure 2003–04 Provisional Outturn White Paper (Cm 6293), for the administration of development programmes, humanitarian assistance, systems to improve efficiency, and the administration costs of the new Post-Conflict Reconstruction Unit.

A full draw down of £153,092,000 of other resource end year flexibility, as set out in the Public Expenditure 2003–04 Provisional Outturn White Paper (Cm 6293), for development programmes in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia and for programmes contributing to multiple objectives, and for the programme costs of the new Post-Conflict Reconstruction Unit.

A claim on the reserve of £25,000,000 in respect of humanitarian assistance following the earthquake and tsunami in south-east Asia.

A transfer of £500,000 from the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs for development projects in Russia and the Ukraine.

A transfer of £24,000 of administration costs from the Cabinet Office relating to DfID's use of the Parliamentary Counsel's Office.

A transfer of £6,500,000 from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for planned programme activity on global conflict prevention.

A reduction of £1,038,000 in respect of a transfer to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for planned programme activity on conflict prevention in Africa.

A reduction of £16,000,000 relating to a transfer to the capital DEL of subscription costs for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

A reduction of £35,000,000 relating to the reclassification of the costs of DfID's investment in CDC Group plc from the DEL to annually managed expenditure.

Non-voted

A reduction of £7,000,000 relating to transfers of Africa conflict prevention unallocated provision to the Ministry of Defence (£2,920,000) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (£4,080,000).

The change in the capital element of the DEL arises from:

Voted

A draw down of £6,528,000 of capital end-year flexibility, including £6,064,000 vired from other resource, as set out in the Public Expenditure 2003–04 Provisional Outturn White Paper (Cm 6293) for investment in improvements to management information and financial systems, acquisition of equity in Actis Capital 11p, and the initial capital costs of the new Post-Conflict Reconstruction Unit.

An increase of £16,000,000 relating to a transfer from the resource DEL of subscription costs for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The change in the adjustment for depreciation arises from forecasts being lower, by £4,500,000, than the total included in the main estimate.