House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 28 Nov 2001 (pt 3)

Departmental Expenditure Limits

Mr. Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to change the (a) departmental expenditure limit and (b) administration costs limit for 2001–02. [19700]

Mr. Nicholas Brown: Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for Work and Pensions Departmental Expenditure Limit will be increased by £3,338,291,000 from £3,964,124,000 to £7,302,415,000 and the administration cost limit by £1,336,666,000 from £3,566,177,000 to £4,902,843,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are set out in the following table:

Resources Capital

Change 3,230,537 107,754

New DEL 7,091,614 210,801

Of which: voted 5,843,935 121,461

Non voted 1,247,679 89,340

	Resources	Capital
Change	3,230,537	107,754
New DEL	7,091,614	210,801
Of which: voted	5,843,935	121,461
Non voted	1,247,679	89,340

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

(i) the transfer of the Employment Service from the Department for Education and Skills (£2,191,389 of which £1,239,729 are administration costs), the transfer of certain functions previously undertaken by Department for Education and Employment (£225,468,000 of which £18,322,000 are administration costs) and the transfer of the War Pensions Agency to Ministry of Defence (£35,799,000 of which £36,466,000 are administration costs) as announced by the Prime Minister on 8 June.

(ii) take up of end year flexibility entitlements (£178,291,000 of which £136,213,000 are administration costs) announced by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury in Table 6 of the 2000–01 Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper (Cm 5243).

(iii) an increase of £4,612,000 (administration costs) in provision from the Employment Opportunities Fund in DEL for expenditure on the new deals for the unemployed and sick and disabled.

(iv) an increase of £78,000 (administration costs) from the repayment arrangement with Department of Trade and Industry for the cost incurred by Department for Work and Pensions on the Post Office General Practitioners pilot.

(v) a net reduction of £1,302,000 (administration costs) due to a transfer to the Scottish Executive of the Resettlement programme in Scotland (£1,318,000) and from the Scottish Executive (£16,000) towards the cost of the Family Resources Survey.

(vi) an increase in provision of £509,000 (administration costs) following a transfer from Department of Health towards the project costs of preserved rights cases and care direct.

(vii) a net reduction of £4,679,000 (administration costs) due to a transfer to Inland Revenue of Programme Protection Funding (£750,000), for the cost of work being performed by Inland Revenue to assist the Benefits Agency clearing a backlog of CA 5400 work (£500,000), the cost of work being performed by Inland Revenue on NIRS development work (£5,000,000) and a transfer of £1,571,000 from Inland Revenue for accommodation office services at Newcastle.

(viii) an increase of £1,229,000 (administration costs) from the reserve under the Debt Recovery Incentive Scheme.

(ix) an increase of £362,000 (administration costs) from an allocation to the department from the evidence based policy fund.

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(x) a net reduction of £165,000 due at transfer of £190,000 to Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions for Rough Sleepers and a transfer from Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions of £25,000 (administration costs) for Local PSAs.

(xi) a transfer of £200,000 (administration costs) from Lord Chancellor's Department to meet the cost of work being provided to them by the departmental central index.

(xii) an increase of £20,000,000 (administration costs) from the Employment Opportunities Fund to enable Employment Services to maintain the present office network during the review of the Jobcentre Plus future network.

(xiii) an increase in provision of £117,400,000 (administration costs) from the Employment Opportunities Fund to set up the Jobcentre Plus Pathfinder offices.

(xiv) a reduction in provision of £1,200,000 as result of a transfer to Department for Education and Skills to cover the cost of work performed by the Adult Learning Inspectorate for Employment Services.

(xv) an increase of £78,000 in appropriations in aid.

(xvi) a net reduction in Employment Opportunities Fund requirements of £8,439,000 following a reapportionment of expenditure within and between RfRs.

(xvii) as a result of the machinery of government changes there is an increase in the Department for Work and Pensions Departmental Expenditure Limit of £542,661,000 which is non-Voted.

(xviii) administration cost limit changes arise from a reduction of £138,928,000 due to a reclassification of Employment Opportunities Fund expenditure and an increase of £20,638,000 in administration costs related appropriations in aid.

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

(i) the transfer of the employment service from the Department for Education and Skills (£12,550,000) and the transfer of the War Pensions Agency to Ministry of Defence (£300,000) ) as announced by the Prime Minister on 8 June.

(ii) take up of end year flexibility entitlements of £81,200,000 announced by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury in Table 6 of the 2000–01 Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper (Cm 5243).

(iii) an increase in provision of £4,800,000 from the Employment Opportunities Fund to set up the Jobcentre Plus Pathfinder offices.

(iv) an increase of £2,000,000 from the Capital Modernisation Fund for Supported Employment.

(v) as a result of the machinery of government changes there is an increase in the Department for Work and Pensions Departmental Expenditure Limit of £7,504,000 which is non-Voted.

All of these changes will either be offset by transfers or charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

New Deal for Communities (Leicester Braunstone)

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the operation of the Braunstone Community Association in respect of the new deal; what the cost is of the scheme; what plans he has to inquire into the administration of the scheme; and if he will make a statement. [15779]

Ms Keeble: I have been asked to reply.

Leicester Braunstone is one of the New Deal for Community Round 1 Pathfinders and has an overall grant of £49.5 million to spend over up to 10 years.

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The scheduled mid year review of the Braunstone New Deal for Communities Programme took place in Braunstone on 22 November 2001. The review considered among other things the strategic direction and delivery of the programme, including progress in delivering the Braunstone Community Association 2001–02 Action Plan, developments in partnership working and community involvement.

Proceedings, which were chaired by an official from the Government Office for the East Midlands, were conducted in a positive atmosphere. Nothing substantive arose during the review to change the status of the programme.

The next few weeks will be very important for the Braunstone New Deal for Communities Programme as the BCA awaits the findings of an independent investigation it set up to look into various allegations related to its internal relationships. That investigation is expected to report by mid-December.

In the meantime, in order to protect the public purse the Government office for the East Midlands has suspended delegated authorities to the BCA to commit expenditure. The Government office is also discussing with auditors the terms of reference for a mid-year audit of the NDC Programme (to end September), which, with evidence arising from the findings of the independent investigation, will allow the Government office what further steps it needs to take in order to secure the future of the Braunstone NDC Programme.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Terrorism

9. Mr. John Smith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action he is taking to co-ordinate departmental policies on mass terrorist threats. [15979]

Mr. Leslie: Under the leadership of the Civil Contingencies Committee, the Government are conducting a comprehensive review of our tried and tested contingency plans in the light of the events of 11 September. We are taking all sensible steps to make sure the country is well prepared for any emergency or threat.

Social Exclusion

10. Vernon Coaker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent discussions he has had with the Government office for the east midlands to ensure that projects designed to tackle social exclusion take into account the needs of areas that have small pockets of deprivation. [15980]

Mrs. Roche: I discussed implementation of the Government's programmes to tackle social exclusion with the Government office for the east-midlands on 25 July.

The targets we have set for mainstream programmes, which will receive substantial increases in resources, will lead to substantial improvements in deprived neighbourhoods across the country.

The local authority districts receiving additional support from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund include over 80 per cent. of the most deprived wards in England and 90 per cent. of the people living in the most deprived wards.

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11. Mr. Shaw: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what policy projects the social exclusion unit is working on. [15981]

Mrs. Roche: The unit is currently working on four projects, looking at:

re-offending by ex-prisoners;

young runaways;

educational attainment of children in care; and

transport and social exclusion.

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