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Departmental Cash and Running Costs Limits
Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has for changes to the 1998-99 cash and running costs limits within his responsibilities. [71425]
Mr. Straw: Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimates, the cash limit for Class VII, Vote 1 (Home Office administration, police, probation, immigration and other services, England and Wales) will be increased by £11,258,000 from £4,833,790,000 to £4,845,048,000, the cash limit for Class VII, Vote 2 (Prisons, England and Wales) will be increased by £119,310,000 from £1,703,670,000 to £1,822,980,000 and the running costs limit will be increased by £49,311,000 from £1,887,431,000 to £1,936,742,000.
The changes in the Vote 1 cash limit are the net effect of the following transfers: £91,000 from the Lord Chancellor's Department, Class VIII, Vote 1, £66,000 from the Crown Prosecution Service, Class VIII, Vote 4 and £32,000 from the Prison Service, Class VII, Vote 2 in respect of contributions for the Integrated Business and Information Systems; £27,000 from the Prison Service, Class VII, Vote 2 in respect of the provision of internet services and contributions to the Prison/Probation Pilot Mentoring project; £25,000 to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Class II, Vote 1 in respect of contributions to the United Kingdom Special Representatives for International Drugs issues; £570,000 to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Class II, Vote 2, in respect of interdepartmental drugs prevention projects in Columbia and Pakistan; £84,000 from the Northern Ireland Office, Class XV Vote 1, in respect of the Criminal Cases Review Commission; £26,000 to the Lord Chancellor's Department, Class VIII, Vote 1 and £7,000 to Treasury
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Solicitors, Class VIII, Vote 6, in respect of extending the Attorney-General's powers for referring unduly lenient sentences to the Court of Appeal; £1,251,000 to the Prison Service, Class VII, Vote 2 in relation to the transfer of responsibility for Boards of Visitors; £10,000 from the Department of Trade and Industry, Class V, Vote 1 for start up costs of the Telecom and Data Protection Directive; and £647,000 from Her Majesty's Treasury Consolidated Fund Standing Service for advance training costs for implementation of the European Elections Bill. The Supplementary Estimate will also provide for increase of £6,080,000 in respect of home detention curfew, £3,800,000 in respect of compensation for miscarriages of justice and £2,300,000 in respect of the National Identification Service.
The changes in the Vote 2 cash limit are the net effect of transfers to Vote 1 of £59,000 in respect of the provision of internet services, contribution for the Integrated Business and Information Systems and contributions to the Prison/Probation Pilot Mentoring project and a transfer from Vote 1 of £1,251,000 in relation to the transfer of responsibility for Boards of Visitors. The Supplementary Estimate will also provide for increases of £111,855,000 for increases in prison capacity, repairs to the prison estate and increased funding for regime activities to keep prisoners constructively occupied; £2,000,000 for work within prisons on the implementation of home detention curfew arrangements; and £13,263,000 to adjust the accounting treatment of Value Added Tax refunds on contracted-out services offset by increased receipt of £9,000,000 due to acceleration in the programme for the sale of staff housing.
The increase in the running costs limit is the net effect of payments from the Lord Chancellor's Department of £91,000 and the Crown Prosecution Service of £66,000 for the Integrated Business and Information Systems; payment of £25,000 to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the United Kingdom Special Representative for International Drugs issues; payments of £26,000 to the Lord Chancellor's Department and £7,000 to the Treasury Solicitor in respect of extending the Attorney-General's powers for referring unduly lenient sentences to the Court of Appeal; £460,000 reclassified from capital provision; increases of £10,000 for costs of the Edwards report, £2,580,000 for home detention curfew; £31,781,000 for increasing prison capacity, repairs and increased funding for regime activities, £118,000 in connection with transitional arrangements for a private finance initiative for the provision of heat energy to prisons, and £13,263,000 to adjust the accounting treatment of Value added Tax refunds on contracted-out services.
These increases will add £118,118,000 to the planned total of public expenditure.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the items sold by his Department, its agencies and associated public bodies from those listed in the National Assets Register of November 1997; if he will give in each case the amount of money realised; if he will estimate the total cash raised from such sales to date; and if he will make a statement. [70411]
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Mr. Straw:
I regret that the information requested is not available centrally. It will be collected as soon as possible from each of the Home Office entities and executive Non Departmental Bodies listed in chapter 7 of the National Assets Register. As soon as the information becomes available, I will write to the hon. Member.
Valerie Davey:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the costs of (a) police and security, including convoys between prison and court, and (b) holding the defendants in prison, in connection with the Simon de Danser drugs case. [70648]
Mr. George Howarth:
The cost to the Avon and Somerset Constabulary of escorting the prisoners to and from court was £161,124.35.
The total cost to the Prison Service of accommodating the prisoners and providing prison officers as escorts was £331,996.91. A separate figure for escorting costs cannot be provided as the cost of escort work is included in the cost per prisoner place at Bristol from which this figure has been calculated.
Mr. Steen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the cost to public funds at the time of the compulsory purchase of land from the Squire family in order to build the Regional Headquarters for the South-west near Malborough, South Devon; and what was the cost of constructing and equipping the Headquarters for use; [69862]
(3) what steps he is taking to ensure that the land on which the former Regional Government Headquarters for the South-west, Soan Mill, near Malborough, South Devon stood, is returned to the Squire family from whom it was compulsory purchased; [69864]
(4) what plans he has for the future use of the site of the former proposed Regional Government Headquarters for the South-west at Soan Mill Cove, Malborough, Kingsbridge, South Devon; and will he make a statement; [69866]
(5) what plans he has to demolish the former proposed Regional Government Headquarters at Soan Mill near Malborough, South Devon. [69867]
Mr. George Howarth:
The site forms part of land that was acquired by the War Office under compulsory requisition provisions that prevailed during the last war. It was transferred to the Home Office in the 1960s. We are pursuing with the Ministry of Defence and our commercial agents in order to establish the cost of acquiring and adapting the site for use as a Regional Government Headquarters. I will cover these points when I reply to the hon. Gentleman's letter of 31 December, which I will do as soon as our inquiries are complete.
We have asked our agents to bring to an early conclusion the discussions regarding the extent of the land which can be offered back to the Squire family. We wish
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to be flexible as we can within the constraints on the former owner rules, which govern the sale of land acquired by compulsory purchase.
We have no plans to demolish any buildings on the site prior to disposal.
Mr. Hinchliffe:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the reasons for the delay in the release of prisoner DK 5193 from HM Prison, Leeds under the early release scheme; and if he will make a statement. [70646]
Mr. George Howarth:
Prisoner DK5193 has been provisionally assessed as suitable for home detention curfew and will be placed on the scheme on 15 February 1999, provided that the curfew address remains available and suitable. This decision may be reviewed should his behaviour or other new information indicate that he is no longer appropriate for home detention curfew. Where, as in this case, the period between sentence and eligibility date is very short, it is often not possible to complete the thorough risk assessment process necessary until very shortly before the prisoner is eligible for home detention curfew.
Mrs. Lait:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vehicles impounded due to their involvement in tobacco and alcohol smuggling and bootlegging have been found to be (a) untaxed, (b) uninsured, (c) stolen and (d) driven by people with no driving licence or whose licences have been withdrawn in 1998. [70022]
(2) when he expects to reply to the letter of 31 December 1998 from the hon. Member for Totnes about the future of the Regional Government Headquarters for the South-west near Malborough, South Devon; [69863]
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