Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Government Equalities Office departmental expenditure limit will reduce by £5,019,000 from £85,201,000 to £80,182,000 and the administration budget will increase by £1,600,000 from £8,005,000 to £9,605,000.
Within the departmental expenditure limit change, the impact on resource and capital is as set out in the following table:
Voted Non-voted Total Voted Non-voted Total Resource 3,001 -3,000 1 17,806 60,960 78,766 of which: Administration 1,600 - 1 9,605 - Near-cash 3,001 -3,000 - 17,806 60,651 78,455 Capital -5,020 - 1,980 1,980 Depreciation* - - - -564 -564 Total 3,001 -8,020 -5,019 17,806 62,376 80,182 *Depreciation, which forms part of resource Departmental Expenditure Limit, is excluded from the total Departmental Expenditure Limit since the capital Departmental Expenditure Limit includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.
Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit
The change in the Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit arises from a token increase to the administration forecast, where a Department’s expenditure within the Estimate is wholly offset by income, so that a token amount of £1,000 is voted.
Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit
The decrease in the capital DEL reflects the Government Equalities Office surrender of capital funds. These were of little value to either the Government Equalities Office or the Commission for Equality and Human Rights and could be better used elsewhere.
Administration Costs Limit
This switch reflects the fact that GEO was established as a separate Department at a very late stage in CSR 07, and its budget did not reflect the costs of its stand-alone status. Successive changes have been made since then to ensure GEO has the right breakdown of money. This completes that process.