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The changes in the 2007-08 winter supplementary estimate compared to the main estimate 2007-08 are due to machinery of government (MOG) transfers, budget cover transfers, end-year flexibility, transfers from RDEL to CDEL and drawdowns on the reserve occurring in the current financial year.

Changes in resource DEL (RDEL)

Changes result in a net decrease of £7,357,000.

Outward transfers amount to a reduction in RDEL by £29,078,000 as follows:

Machinery of government transfers

Better Regulation Executive (BRE) transfer to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR, formerly DTI) reduces RDEL and net cash requirement in the estimate by £11,429,000.

Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit (PMDU) transfer to HM Treasury (HMT) reduces RDEL and net cash requirement in the estimate by £4,028,000.

Budget cover transfers outwards

A budget transfer of cover to 14 government departments to cover the costs of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) reduces RDEL and net cash requirement in the estimate by £8,389,000.

A budget transfer to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) for Government Offices reduces RDEL and net cash requirement in the estimate by £764,000.

A budget transfer to the Home Office (HO) to cover administration costs reduces RDEL and net cash requirement in the estimate by £104,000.

A budget transfer to Office for National Statistics (ONS) to provide administration cover for development reduces RDEL and net cash requirement in the estimate by £164,000.

Transfers

A transfer from RDEL to CDEL for SCOPE programme funding and the property refurbishment in Emergency Planning College reduces RDEL by £4,150,000, of which: administration expenditure by £450,000 and programme expenditure by £3,700,000. The net cash requirement is not affected.

A transfer from non-voted programme expenditure in RDEL to non-voted CDEL CapacityBuilders (UK) Ltd, an executive non-departmental public body, reduces RDEL by £50,000. The net resource requirement and net cash requirement are unaffected.

Inward transfers amount to an increase of £21,721,000 as follows:



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Machinery of government transfers

The Lord President of the Council Office and the Leader of the House of Lords and the Leader and the Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, and the Offices of the Government Whips in the House of Commons and House of Lords, transfer from the Privy Council Office increases RDEL by £4,553,000, including non-cash by £47,000 and net cash requirement in the estimate by £4,546,000.

Drawdown on the reserves

Drawdown from the special CT reserve in HM Treasury to provide funding for the BBC monitoring programme increases RDEL and net cash requirement in the estimate by £5,000,000.

Drawdown from the reserve for VAT reimbursement for BBC Children in Need increases RDEL and net cash requirement in the estimate by £299,000.

Drawdown for V matched funding for the Office of the Third Sector to cover grant expenditure increases RDEL and net cash requirement in the estimate by £3,301,000.

Drawdown from the invest to save budget (ISB) for the Office of the Third Sector for grant expenditure increases RDEL and net cash requirement in the estimate by £399,000.

Budget cover transfers

A transfer from the disbanded Deputy Prime Minister’s Office (DPMO) covering funds transferred from the Cabinet Office in the main estimate increases RDEL and net cash requirement in the estimate by £1,233,000.

A transfer from security and intelligence agencies to fund the BBC monitoring programme increases RDEL and net cash requirement by £3,647,000.

Take-up of end-year flexibility

Drawdown resource EYF (DEL cover only) cover for CapacityBuilders (UK) Ltd, £3,289,000; this represents funds held by CapacityBuilders (UK) Ltd at 31 March 2007 and remaining unspent. This does not affect the net cash requirement or net resource requirement.

Changes in capital DEL (CDEL)

Changes result in a net increase of £30,062,000 as follows:

Machinery of government transfers

The Lord President of the Council Office and the Leader of the House of Lords and the Leader and the Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, and the Offices of the Government Whips in the House of Commons and House of Lords, transfer from the Privy Council Office (PCO) increases CDEL and net cash requirement by £40,000.

Transfers

A transfer from RDEL to CDEL for SCOPE programme funding of £3,700,000 and the property refurbishment in Emergency Planning College of £450,000 increases CDEL by £4,150,000. Net cash requirement is not affected.

A transfer from non-voted programme expenditure in RDEL to non-voted CDEL for CapacityBuilders (UK) Ltd, an executive non-departmental public

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body, increases CDEL by £50,000. The net cash requirement is not affected.

Take-up of end-year flexibility (EYF)

Drawdown capital DEL EYF to fund the SCOPE programme and other property projects across the Whitehall estate increases CDEL and net cash requirement by £25,822,000, of which £22,143,000 to cover costs of the SCOPE programme and £3,679,000 for various property projects across the Whitehall estate.

Charity Commission: DEL

Lord Davies of Oldham: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office (Phil Hope) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Plans to change the Charity Commission's departmental expenditure limit (DEL) and administration budget for 2007-08.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary the Charity Commission total DEL will be increased by £1,001,000 from £30,992,000 to £31,993,000. Within the total DEL change, the impact on resources and capital is as set out in the following table:

ChangeNew DEL
VotedNon- votedVotedNon- votedTotal

Resource

1,500

0

31,743

0

31,743

Of which:

Administration budget*

1,500

0

31,743

0

31,743

Near cash in RDEL*

1,500

0

30,732

0

30,732

Capital DEL**

-499

0

900

0

900

Depreciation ***

0

0

-650

0

-650

Total

1,001

0

31,993

0

31,993

The change in the resource element of the DEL and in the administration budget arises from additional funding agreed in the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) settlement as follows:

expenditure of £1,000,000 to review the links between terrorist financing and charities;£500,000 to fund additional responsibilities following the passage of the Charities Act 2006.

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The change in the administration budget also arises from additional funding in the 2007 CSR settlement as detailed above.

The change in the capital element of the DEL reflects a reduction of funding on capital spending of £499,000 following the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review settlement.

The supplementary estimate also details changes in operating appropriations in aid, fully offset by changes in spending and not impacting on the commission's departmental expenditure limit:

project funding of £450,000 by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the continuation of the International Outreach project;funding of £400,000 by the Department for Communities and Local Government for the creation of the Faith and Social Cohesion unit;£250,000 additional accommodation charges funded by the sub-letting of a floor at the commission's London office building.

Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Peter Hain) has made the following Statement.

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Janet Paraskeva as the chair designate of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission. Her appointment will take effect as from 19 November 2007. Janet Paraskeva brings extensive experience to this role from her time as chief executive of the Law Society, director of the National Lottery Charities Board and chief executive of the National Youth Agency. She is also currently the First Civil Service Commissioner.

Subject to the passage of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill, the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission will have responsibility for the future child maintenance system. The commission’s key objective will be to get more money to more families, helping to lift more children out of poverty.

Criminal Justice

The Attorney-General (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): The Government have today laid before Parliament the document Working Together to Cut Crime and Deliver Justice: A Strategic Plan for Criminal Justice 2008-11 (Cm 7247). This plan sets out how we will deliver the new justice for all public service agreement targets for the criminal justice system to improve efficiency and effectiveness in bringing offences to justice, especially serious offences; increase public confidence and victim and

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witness satisfaction; increase recovery of criminal assets; and improve enforcement of the orders of the court.

The strategic plan sets out a new approach to the way in which the criminal justice agencies—police, prosecution, courts, probation, prison and youth justice services—will work together to improve efficiency and effectiveness in bringing offences to justice by giving local criminal justice boards greater flexibility to tailor their work to local priorities. The plan also sets out how the criminal justice system will support the Government’s wider drive to make communities safer through reducing crime and reoffending, as detailed in the crime strategy, Cutting Crime: A New Partnership 2008-11, published on 19 July.

By working together more closely, staff in the criminal justice system have already successfully brought more offences to justice, improved services to victims and witnesses and built strong partnerships at national and local level to drive up performance, supported by modern technology.

This plan builds on that success and sets out our commitment to a criminal justice system that:

is effective in bringing offences to justice;engages the public and inspires confidence;puts the needs of victims at its heart; andhas simple and efficient processes.

While we have made great strides in tackling volume crime, there is more to do to tackle some of the most serious crimes, such as sexual and violent crime, and to support the victims of these crimes. At the other end of the scale, we need to intervene earlier and more effectively with young people at risk, both victims and offenders. We need to continue our drive to tackle some of the most intractable problems—mental health, substance misuse and social exclusion—which underlie many crimes.

We recognise that it is crucial to engage the public more closely in the work of the criminal justice system. We need to bring the criminal justice system closer to the people whom it serves so that we inform them, consult them and tell them how we are responding to their views. Local criminal justice boards, working with local communities and crime and disorder reduction partnerships, will have a key role in achieving this. More needs to be done to ensure that the criminal justice system provides a service that is fair and effective for all sections of the community.

We will go further in improving the efficiency of every part of the system, making better use of the technology that is now in place, and give local areas the freedom to innovate and drive locally tailored programmes of change.


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