Written Ministerial Statements
Friday 23 February 2007
Constitutional Affairs
Spring Supplementary Estimate 2006-07
The Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (Ms Harriet Harman):
Subject to parliamentary
approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for Constitutional Affairs, Northern Ireland Court Service and National Archives: Public Records Office and Historical Manuscripts Commission total departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £40,811 from £4,061,782,000 to £4,102,593 and the administration costs limit will be increased by £1,849 from £574,473 to £576,322
Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:
| £’000s | |||||
| Changes | New DEL | ||||
| Voted | Non-voted | Voted | Non-voted | Total | |
| (*)Depreciation, which forms part of 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 Department for Constitutional Affairs DEL arises from:
Resource Change: Admin (total increase of £2,272,000)
Take up of End-Year Flexibility (EYF):
(i) £1,600,000 additional resources as near cash (admin) in relation to additional costs associated with LIBRA and ARAM IS contracts. A draw down of The National Archives EYF entitlement.
(ii) £672,000 increase in resource from the Cabinet Office to cover the move to a hard-charging regime for costs of the Parliamentary Council Office.
Resource Change: Programme (total increase of £6,592,000)
Take up of End-Year Flexibility (EYF):
(i) £4,400,000 additional resources as near cash in relation to additional costs associated with LIBRA and ARAMIS contracts. A draw down of DCA’s EYF entitlement.
(ii) £1,460,000 for compensation of implementation of Custody Plus, from the Home Office,
(iii) £119,000 for CJS Training Costs (HMCS) for Custody Plus, from the Home Office,
(iv) £129,000 for CJIT costs incurred on the Bichard Recommendation IT solution project, from the Home Office.
(v) £460,000 in relation to PROGRESS, from Crown Prosecution Service,
(vi) £24,000 in relation to CJS Training Costs (DCA HQ) for Custody Plus, from Home Office.
Resource Change: Admin (total decrease of £500,000)
(i) A reduction in resource spending (£500,000—admin costs) to facilitate spending on minor works within The National Archives. This is offset in budgetary terms by a reallocation of DEL cover from within the Department of Constitutional Affairs group.
Resource Change: Programme (total decrease of £13,189,000)
(i) A reallocation in resource DEL (£1,000,000) to Department for Communities and Local Government in respect of Commission for Equality and Human Rights,
(ii) A reduction in resource DEL (£1,190,000) and a reallocation to the National Assembly for Wales for spending on the extra burdens for Local Authorities arising from the Electoral Administration Act 2006.
(iii) A reduction in resource DEL (£2,000,000) and reallocation to Home Office in relation to Local Criminal Justice Boards.
(iv) A reduction in resource DEL (£334,000) and re-allocation to Home Office for spending on the Site Acceptance Testing Environment,
(v) A reduction in resource DEL (£2,500,000) and re-allocation to Home Office for spending on the NES IT Programme Pathfinder Phase,
(vi) A reduction in resource DEL (£165,000) and re-allocation to Home Office for, spending on PROGRESS.
(vii) A reduction in spending (£6,000,000) and reallocation of resource DEL to Home Office in respect of Single Asylum Fund.
Resource Change: Admin (total increase of £77,000)
(i) An increase in resources (£76,000—admin) to Scotland Office. A transfer from the Scottish Executive,
(ii) An increase in resources (£1,000) in relation to a token vote.
Resource Change: Programme (total increase of £19,000,000)
Take up of End-Year Flexibility (EYF):
(i) Additional non-voted resources (£3,000,000) to cover spending on elections. A draw down of non-voted DEL EYF to the Scotland Office.
(ii) An increase in non-voted resources (£16,000,000) to cover spending on elections. A transfer from the Scottish Assembly.
The change in the resource element of the Northern Ireland Court Service DELarises from:
Resource Change: Programme (total increase of £454,000)
Take up of End-Year Flexibility (EYF):
(i) Additional grant (£454,000) payable to the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission (NILSC) for expenditure on publicly funded Legal Services.
Non-Voted Budget Change: Non-Cash (total increase of £26,000,000)
(i) Additional non-cash draw down (£26,000,000) from the Department for Constitutional Affairs EYF in respect of the non-cash resource consumption of the NILSC. This arises from a revised forecast of the NILSC's resource requirement for 2006-07.
The change in the resource element of The National Archives DEL arises from:
Resource Change: Admin (total increase of £500,000)
(i) £500,000 net resources resulting from a switch from Capital to Resource spend offset by switch within The Department for Constitutional Affairs to facilitate spending on minor works.
The change in the capital element of the Department for Constitutional Affairs DEL arises from:
Capital Change (total increase of £670,000)
Transfer from Other Government Departments:
(i) Increase in capital (£170,000) to reflect a reallocation of CJIT capital from Home Office.
(ii) Increase in capital spending (£500,000). This is offset in budgetary terms by a reallocation of DEL cover from within the Department for Constitutional Affairs group.
Capital Change (total decrease of £565,000)
(i) A reduction in capital DEL (£258,000) in relation to CJIT ring-fenced funding transferred to Home Office for spending on the Site Acceptance Testing Environment.
(ii) A reduction in capital DEL (£307,000) in relation to CJIT ring-fenced funding transferred to Home Office for spending on PROGRESS.
There is no change in the capital element of the Northern Ireland Court Service DEL
The change in the capital element of The National Archives DEL arises from: CapitalChange (total decrease of £500,000.)
(i) A reduction in capital spending (£500,000) resulting from Capital to Resource spend offset by switch within the Department for Constitutional Affairs to facilitate spending on minor works.
Education and Skills
Education and Youth Council
The Minister for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning (Bill Rammell): Anne Lambert, UK deputy permanent representative to the EU, attended the Education and Youth Council on behalf on the UK.
Ministers discussed the following issues:
Contribution of the Council (in the field of education) to spring European Council
1. The Council adopted the key messages to the spring European Council without comment.
Looking beyond 2010—developing the ‘Education and Training 2010’ work programme
2. Ministers had an exchange of views on developing the ‘Education and Training 2010’ work programme. The UK said that skills had to form a central part of Europe’s response to globalisation. However, low skills levels are a shared problem among member states, as shown by the EU’s poor track record in reducing early school leaving. The Council should play a stronger role in supporting the necessary reforms by identifying good practice and peer review. The UK asked the Commission to make proposals for focusing the work programme, its structures and working methods, more on the Lisbon integrated guidelines and skills issues.
3. Our comments on the Lisbon agenda were echoed by some member states, including Finland, Denmark and France. However, most Ministers chose to focus on the role of education in social cohesion, rather than growth, jobs and competitiveness.
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