Subject to Parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £41,608,000 (1.32 per cent.) from £3,149,133,000 to £3,190,741,000. The administration budget will be increased by £200,000 (0.07 per cent.) from £304,296,000 to £304,496,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital is set out in the following table:
Change New DEL Voted Non-voted Total Voted Non-voted Total Resource 404,844 -392,971 11,873 4,405,871 -1,684,991 2,720,880 Of which: Administration Budget 200 - 200 304,496 - 304,496 Near-cash in Resource DEL 389,547 -377,674 11,873 4,138,436 -1,752,988 2,385,448 Capital -8,305 38,040 29,735 262,071 432,179 694,250 Depreciation* 9,450 -9,450 - -115,820 -108,569 -224,389 Total 405,989 -364,381 41,608 4,552,122 -1,361,381 3,190,741 *Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL since capital DEL includes capital spending of those assets would lead to double counting.
The change in the resource element of the DEL of £11,873,000 arises from: (i) a transfer of £30,000,000 programme from resource to capital for the Environment Agency; (ii) a £30,000,000 increase to programme following an agreement with HM Treasury to bring forward part of next year’s ring-fenced disallowance provision to cover a Rural Payments Agency (RPA) disallowance issue that has materialised this year; (iii) a transfer of £827,000 programme to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for Northern Ireland for transmissible spongiform encephalopathy responsibility; (iv) a transfer of £12,500,000 programme from the Department of Energy and Climate Change, returning funding DEFRA previously provided for the Carbon Capture and Storage Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) studies; and (v) a transfer of £200,000 administration from the Cabinet Office for the Office of Parliamentary Counsel.
There has also been a transfer within the resource element of the DEL of £355,481,000 from voted to non-voted. This relates to increases in income and expenditure for the EU funded schemes. This change is DEL neutral, but the expenditure is classed as voted, whereas the income is classed as non-voted consolidated fund extra receipts.
There has been a transfer of the remaining £26,000,000 Departmental Unallocated Provision from non-voted to voted to cover in part an RPA disallowance issue that has materialised this year. The remainder of the transfers within resource DEL, between voted and non-voted, primarily relate to budget transfers from the core Department (voted) to the Department’s Non Departmental Public Bodies (non-voted).
The change in the capital element of the DEL of £29,735,000 arises from: (i) a transfer of £30,000,000 from resource to capital for the Environment Agency; and (ii) a transfer of £265,000 to the Department of Energy and Climate Change for anaerobic digestion of manure and food waste demonstration projects.
There has also been a transfer within the capital element of the DEL of £8,040,000 from voted to non-voted relating to budget transfers from the core Department (voted) to the Department’s Non Departmental Public Bodies (non-voted).