Subject to parliamentary approval of the winter supplementary estimate, the Attorney-General’s DEL will be increased by £39,479,000 from £717,497,000 to £756,976,000 and the administration budget will be increased by £7,382,000 from £112,261,000 to £119,643,000.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

^* 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 Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) element of the Attorney-General’s DEL will be increased by £14,815,000 from £631,537,000 to £646,352,000. The administration budget will be reduced by £112,000 from £57,415,000 to £57,303,000.

The change in the CPS’s DEL arises from:

the take-up of £7,000,000 of the departmental unallocated provision to support increased expenditure on the prosecution of criminal cases;

an increase due to a budgetary transfer of £1,291,000 programme from the Ministry of Justice to provide support to local criminal justice boards (LCJBs);

an increase of £539,000 programme DEL transferred from the Ministry of Justice to provide additional resources from Criminal Justice Information Technology (CJIT) to fund the case progression tool, “Progress”;

an increase of £2,364,000 programme for ExiSSrl from CJIT to allow the electronic transfer of case data between the police and CPS;

an increase of £1,834,000 programme from the Ministry of Justice to provide additional resources as agreed in the CJIT delivery plan to fund enhancements to the witness management system (WMS);

an increase of £7,300,000 programme due to the reallocation of resource DEL budgetary cover from the Ministry of Justice to provide additional resources to help to fund the Compass Case Management System IT programme;

an increase of £1,285,000 programme due to the reallocation of resource DEL budgetary cover from the Ministry of Justice to provide the CPS serious organised crime team with a secure case management system and access to the government secure network;

an agreed transfer of £218,000 programme expenditure from the Department for Constitutional Affairs to fund the North Liverpool Community Justice Centre;

a transfer of £96,000 from the Home Office to fund CPS costs of delivery of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2007; and

a decrease of £112,000 in administration resource due to the reallocation of resource DEL budgetary cover, within the Attorney-General’s resource DEL, from the Crown Prosecution Service to HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitors. This is required to help to fund the provision of administrative services to the Attorney-General by the Attorney-General’s Office.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) element of the Attorney-General’s DEL will be increased by £17,145,000 from £37,669,000 to £54,814,000. The administration budget will increase from £24,969 to £31,635.

The changes in the SFO’s DEL arise from:

the take-up of £2,000,000 administration resource end-year flexibility;

an increase of £13,649,000 from our two Block Buster Cases reserves; £4,670,000 to our administration budget; £8,679,000 for our programme budget and £300,000 for our capital budget;

a decrease of £4,000 administration resources due to the reallocation of resource DEL budgetary cover, within the Attorney-General’s resource DEL, from the Serious Fraud Office to HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitors. This is required to help to fund the provision of administrative services to the Attorney-General by the Attorney-General’s Office;

a cash-neutral change to our administration budget of £300,000, being both increase in costs and increase in revenue as a consequence of expected proceeds of crime income; and

the take-up of £1,700,000 capital end-year flexibility to meet the cost of additional spend.

The Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office’s (RCPO) element of the Attorney-General’s DEL will be reduced by £317,000 from £36,726,000 to £36,409,000. This reduction will occur within the administration budget, which will be reduced from £18,253,000 to £ 17,936,000.

The change in RCPO’s DEL arises from:

a decrease of £317,000 administration resources due to the reallocation of resource DEL budgetary cover, within the Attorney-General's resource DEL, from the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office to HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitors. This is required to help to fund the provision of administrative services to the Attorney-General by the Attorney-General’s Office.

The HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor (TSol) element of the Attorney-General's DEL will be increased by £836,000 from £16,221,000 to £17,057,000. This increase will occur within the administration budget, which will increase from £11,624,000 to £ 12,769,000.

The change in TSol's DEL arises from:

administration cost changes in respect of a reallocation of resource DEL budgetary cover, within the Attorney-General's resource DEL, of £4,000 from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), £317,000 from the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO) and £112,000 from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to the Treasury Solicitors Department to meet the cost of policy support to the Attorney-General provided by the Attorney-General's Office (AGO);

the take-up of £712,000 resource end-year flexibility to meet the cost of policy support to the Attorney-General provided by the Attorney-General’s Office (AGO); and

an increase of £309,000 in depreciation costs.

My right honourable friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Ed Miliband) has made the following Ministerial Statement.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the winter supplementary estimate 2007-08, the Cabinet Office total DEL has changed from the amount voted in the main estimate 2007-08.

As a result, the Cabinet Office total DEL has increased by £22,683,000 from £375,914,000 to £398,597,000.

The impact on resource DEL (RDEL) and capital DEL (CDEL) is set out in the following table:

^** 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 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:

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 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.

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:

* The total of Administration budget and Near cash in Resource DEL may be greater than total resource DEL due to the definitions overlapping

** Capital DEL includes items treated as resource in estimates and accounts but which are treated as capital DEL in budgets

*** Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from 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 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.

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.

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.

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 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; and

has 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.

The programmes of work that we set out in this plan will support this local approach. We are designing a blueprint for local leadership to enable local criminal justice boards to implement a co-ordinated programme of reform that is shared by all the criminal justice agencies and to engage effectively with local communities and local partners to tackle local priorities and reduce crime and reoffending.

We have set ourselves a challenging target on asset recovery, sending a strong signal that crime does not pay. Offenders will be held to account for their actions and offered more opportunities to make amends to their victims and society. We will ensure that standards of service to victims and witnesses are embedded throughout the criminal justice system and that we respond to the needs of all victims, particularly the victims of the most serious crimes.

We will continue to drive improvements across the whole criminal justice process, but we will do so in a different way. At a national level, we will provide the framework and support, but improvements will be driven at local level, informed by local priorities. We will measure and respond to the views of local people about their local services. We will work in partnership with local community and voluntary organisations. We will build on what works to make a sustainable difference to reducing crime and reoffending in communities.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (John Hutton) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform's DEL will be reduced by £3,748,144,000 from £7,144,961,000 to £3,396,817,000 and the administration budget will be increased by £9,740,000 from £316,969,000 to £326,709,000.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital is as set out in the following table:

^* The total of the administration budget and near-cash in resource DEL figures may well be greater than total resource DEL, due to the definitions overlapping.

^** Capital DEL includes items treated as resource in estimates and accounts but which are treated as capital DEL in budgets.

^*** 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 DEL arises from:

RfR1

machinery of government transfer of £6,146,000 voted expenditure and £1,955,000 non-voted receipts to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of the UK Intellectual Property Office;

machinery of government transfer of £6,370,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of non-voted expenditure of the Design Council;

machinery of government transfer of £168,300,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of the technology strategy;

machinery of government transfer of £296,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory;

machinery of government transfer of £27,650,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of space;

machinery of government transfer of £3,500,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of civil aircraft research and demonstration;

machinery of government transfer of £57,573,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of the national measurement system;

machinery of government transfer of £56,788,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of standards, knowledge transfer partnerships, legacy schemes, corporate social responsibility;

machinery of government transfer of £1,000,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of UK Intellectual Property Office for legal costs;

machinery of government transfer of £214,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory;

increase of £2,762,000 in respect of an award from the Financial Inclusion Fund for face-to-face debt advice;

transfer of £4,000,000 from the Ministry of Defence in respect of global threat reduction;

virement of £5,671,000 from voted to non-voted expenditure in respect of the regional development agencies reflecting increased contributions from other government departments;

virement of £50,000,000 from non-voted expenditure in respect of the regional development agencies to provide for voted pressures with regard to sustainability and business programmes following the machinery of government changes;

reclassification to capital of £728,383,000 of non-voted expenditure in respect of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority;

virement of £833,811,000 from voted to non-voted expenditure in respect of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority reflecting increased commercial income;

virement of £1,000,000 from voted expenditure on the Small Business Service to non-voted expenditure in respect of the regional development agencies;

virement of £2,000,000 from voted expenditure of the Insolvency Service to non-voted expenditure in respect of the Local Better Regulation Office; and

reclassification of £68,000,000 from annually managed expenditure to departmental expenditure limit in respect of a subsidy to the Royal Mail for losses/restructuring.

RfR2

machinery of government transfer of £41,072,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of the Royal Society;

machinery of government transfer of £9,752,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of the Royal Academy of Engineering;

machinery of government transfer of £21,385,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of the British Academy;

machinery of government transfer of £6,000,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of OSI initiatives;

machinery of government transfer of £11,395,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of science and society;

machinery of government transfer of £104,000,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of knowledge transfer (higher education innovation fund and exploitation of discoveries at public sector research establishments);

machinery of government transfer of £97,343,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of non-voted expenditure of the Arts and Humanities Research Council;

machinery of government transfer of £340,825,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of non-voted expenditure of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council;

machinery of government transfer of £144,265,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of non-voted expenditure of the Economic and Social Research Council;

machinery of government transfer of £667,070,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of non-voted expenditure of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council;

machinery of government transfer of £490,040,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of non-voted expenditure of the Medical Research Council;

machinery of government transfer of £354,613,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of non-voted expenditure of the Natural Environment Research Council;

machinery of government transfer of £5,572,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of non-voted EU-related receipts of the Natural Environment Research Council;

machinery of government transfer of £483,808,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of non-voted expenditure of the Science and Technology Facilities Council;

machinery of government transfer of non-voted expenditure of £3,300,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of EURATOM (European fusion);

machinery of government transfer of non-voted expenditure of £4,306,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of departmental unallocated provision.

Also within the change to resource DEL, the changes to the administration budget are (RfR1):

machinery of government transfer of £11,429,000 from the Cabinet Office in respect of the Better Regulation Executive;

machinery of government transfer of £14,690,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of innovation;

machinery of government transfer of £641,000 from the Department for Communities and Local Government in respect of regional activities;

transfer of £125,000 to the Department for Communities and Local Government in respect of a correction to the Women’s Equality Unit machinery of government transfer made in 2006/07;

transfer of £1,685,000 from the Cabinet Office in respect of the Parliamentary Counsel Office;

reclassification of £20,000,000 from programme to administration expenditure in respect of revised treatment of consultancy fees and contract charges;

reclassification of £700,000 from voted administration to non-voted programme expenditure in respect of the regional development agencies.

RfR2

machinery of government transfer of £3,500,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of the science and engineering base; and

machinery of government transfer of £5,000,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of the transdepartmental science and technology group.

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

RfR1

machinery of government transfer of £166,000 receipts to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of the UK Intellectual Property Office;

machinery of government transfer of £10,000,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of the technology strategy;

machinery of government transfer of £231,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory;

machinery of government transfer of £9,867,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of the national measurement system;

increase of £639,000 to the regional development agencies in relation to the Leeds UDC dowry;

reclassification from resource of £728,383,000 of non-voted expenditure in respect of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority;

virement of £57,284,000 from voted to non-voted expenditure in respect of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority reflecting increased commercial income;

utilisation of £78,000,000 from the unused balance of the department's EYF entitlement for renewable energy;

transfer of £78,000,000 from the renewable energy budget to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills for science purposes;

virement of £10,000 from voted regional selective assistance expenditure to non-voted expenditure in respect of the Local Better Regulation Office.

RfR2

machinery of government transfer of £300,000,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of the Science Research Investment Fund;

machinery of government transfer of £1,000,000 of receipts to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council;

machinery of government transfer of £55,231,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of non-voted expenditure of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council;

machinery of government transfer of £7,950,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of non-voted expenditure of the Economic and Social Research Council;

machinery of government transfer of £67,826,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of non-voted expenditure of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council;

machinery of government transfer of £69,468,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of non-voted expenditure of the Medical Research Council;

machinery of government transfer of £54,765,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of non-voted expenditure of the Natural Environment Research Council;

machinery of government transfer of £134,008,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of non-voted expenditure of the Science and Technology Facilities Council;

machinery of government transfer of non-voted expenditure of £6,321,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in respect of departmental unallocated provision.

Postal Services Commission: Winter Supplementary Estimate 2007-08

The Postal Services Commission net cash requirement will be increased by £1,517,000 from £1,000 to £1,518,000. There is no impact on resource or capital DEL as set out in the following table:

^* The total of the administration budget and near-cash in resource DEL figures may well be greater than total resource DEL, due to the definitions overlapping.

^** Capital DEL includes items treated as resource in estimates and accounts but treated as capital DEL in budgets.

^*** 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 net cash requirement is a result of a forecast decrease in end-year creditors that is higher than the original forecast in the main estimate.

Office of Gas and Electricity Markets: Winter Supplementary Estimate 2007-08

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Office of Gas and Electricity Market's DEL will be increased by £1,000 from £1,651,000 to £1,652,000 and the administration budget will be increased by £211,000 from £491,000 to £702,000.

^* The total of the administration budget and near-cash in resource DEL figures may well be greater than total resource DEL, due to the definitions overlapping.

^** Capital DEL includes items treated as resource in estimates and accounts but treated as capital DEL in budgets.

^*** 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 DEL arises from a token increase in administration costs to cover an increase of £356,000 in expenditure offset by an increase of £355,000 in A in A. Additionally, there is a reclassification of £210,000 from programme to administration costs.

There is no change in the capital element of the DEL.

Today my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (Mr Ed Balls) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for Children, Schools and Families departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be decreased by £14,106,193,000 from £64,665,498,000 to £50,559,305,000, the administration cost budget will be decreased by £45,221,000 from £237,698,000 to £192,477,000. The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (OFSTED) which has a separate estimate and DEL, will be increased by £16,790,000 from £205,000,000 to £221,790,000; the administration cost budget will be increased by £485,000 from £28,470,000 to £28,955,000.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

*Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL, in the table above, since capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.

** The total of 'Administration budget' and 'Near-cash in resource DEL' figures may well be greater than total resource DEL, due to the definitions overlapping.

*** Capital DEL includes items treated as resource in Estimates and accounts but which are treated as Capital DEL in budgets.

Within the administration cost budget changes, the impact is set out in the following table:

Department for Children, Schools and Families Resource DEL

The decrease in the resource element of the DEL of £12,939,550,000 arises from an increase in the voted element of the resource DEL of £3,950,322,000 and a decrease of £16,889,872,000 in the non-voted element of resource DEL mainly in the department's non-departmental public bodies.

Voted Resource DEL

The £3,950,322,000 increase in the voted element of the resource DEL arises from:

RfR1

Following the machinery of government changes, a net movement of £4,297,101,000 from non-voted resource DEL to fund departmental programmes through the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), a transfer of £25,600,000 from the Home Office for the respect programmes.

A movement from RfR2, £2,400,000 in respect of early years in maintained schools.

A movement of £373,089,000 to non-voted resource DEL to support the machinery of government change.

A drawdown from central funds of £4,661,000 to match departmental non-cash DEL with agreed Comprehensive Spending Review aggregates.

A transfer from the Cabinet Office £549,000 administration for the Parliamentary Counsel Office.

A transfer to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of £2,000,000 for museums and galleries.

RfR2

A movement of £2,400,000 to RfR1 in respect of early years in maintained schools.

A movement of £2,500,000 to non-voted resource DEL in respect of the National College for Schools Leadership.

Non-voted resource DEL

The £16,889,872,000 decrease in non-voted resource DEL arises from:

Following the machinery of government changes, a net movement of £17,247,858,000 to DIUS.

A transfer of £15,924,000 to the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (OFSTED) to take on the role of the former Adult Learning Inspectorate.

A movement of £373,089,000 from voted resource DEL to support the machinery of government change.

A movement of £2,500,000 from RfR2 for the National College for Schools Leadership.

Giving up to central funds £1,679,000 to match departmental non-cash DEL with agreed Comprehensive Spending Review aggregates.

Capital DEL

The decrease in the capital element of the DEL of £1,166,643,000 arises from a £458,447,000 increase in the voted element of capital DEL and a decrease of £1,625,090,000 in the non-voted element of capital DEL.

Voted Capital DEL

The £458,477,000 decrease in the voted element of the capital DEL arises from:

RfR1

Following the machinery of government changes, an increase in voted DEL of £456,700 as part of the exercise to move provision to DIUS.

Technical adjustment to move £1,234,000 to non-voted to match departmental capital DEL with agreed Comprehensive Spending Review aggregates.

A technical adjustment to move £2,981,000 from non-voted capital DEL to match agreed Comprehensive Spending Review aggregates.

Non-voted Capital DEL

The £1,625,090,000 decrease in the non-voted element of capital DEL arises from:

A net movement of £1,622,962,000 to DIUS following the machinery of government changes

A transfer of £381,000 to the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (OFSTED) to take on the role of the former Adult Learning Inspectorate.

Technical adjustment to move £1,234,000 from voted to match departmental capital DEL with agreed Comprehensive Spending Review aggregates.

A technical adjustment to move £2,981,000 to voted capital DEL to match agreed Comprehensive Spending Review aggregates.

Administration Cost Budget

Following the machinery of government changes, a transfer of £43,450,000 to DIUS.

Following the machinery of government changes, a transfer of £1,400,000 from the Home Office for the respect programme.

Reclassification of £3,720,000 from administration costs to programme expenditure for the academy programme.

A transfer of £549,000 from the Cabinet Office for the Parliamentary Counsel Office.

Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills

Voted Resource DEL

Following the machinery of government changes a transfer of £485,000 from the Ministry of Justice for the inspection of the Children and Families Court Advisory and Support Service.

A transfer of £15,924,000 from DCSF for inspection services relating to work-based learning and training and adult community learning.

Voted Capital DEL

A transfer of £381,000 from DCSF for to meet IT and accommodation costs associated with inspection services relating to work-based learning and training and adult community learning.

Administration Cost Budget

Following the machinery of government changes a transfer of £485,000 from the Ministry of Justice for the inspection of the Children and Families Court Advisory and Support Service.

Today my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (Mr John Denham) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary new estimate, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be £18,087,949,000 and the administration cost budget will be £71,840,000.

Within the DEL, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

* The total of Administration budget and Near-cash in resource DEL figures may well be greater than total resource DEL, due to the definitions overlapping.

** Capital DEL includes items treated as resource in estimates and accounts but which are treated as capital DEL in budgets.

*** Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL, in the table above, since capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.

Resource DEL

The increase in the resource element of the DEL of £16,117,217,000 arises from a decrease in the voted element of the resource DEL of £3,742,948,000 and an increase of £19,860,165,000 in the non-voted element of resource DEL mainly in the department's non-departmental public bodies.

Voted Resource DEL

The £3,742,948,000 decrease in the voted element of the resource DEL arises from:

RfR1

Following the machinery of government (MOG) changes a transfer of £334,202,000 from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), a net receipt transfer of £4,297,101,000 from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).

A movement to non-voted department unallocated provision of £12,000,000.

A technical movement of £81,706,000 from non-voted resource DEL to offset original receipt for Higher Education Investment Fund, included as part of the DCSF MOG transfers.

A technical movement of £301,000 from non-voted resource DEL to amend depreciation and cost of capital totals to agreed Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) limits.

A transfer from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of £26,800,000 in respect of the Business Resource Efficiency Waste Programme.

A transfer of £6,270,000 from the Ministry of Justice for prisoner education costs.

A transfer of £230,000 to the Ministry of Justice for PICTA.

RfR2

Following the machinery of government changes a transfer of £202,104,000 from the BERR.

A technical movement of £85,000,000 to non-voted resource DEL to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) for the Higher Education Investment Fund.

Non-voted resource DEL

Following the machinery of government changes a transfer of £2,586,368,000 from the BERR, a transfer of £17,247,858,000 from the DCSF.

A movement from voted resource DEL to department unallocated provision of £12,000,000.

A technical movement of £301,000 to voted resource DEL to amend depreciation and cost of capital totals to agreed Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) limits.

A technical movement of £3,294,000 from voted resource DEL for the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) for the Higher Education Investment Fund.

The take-up of end-year flexibility of £10,946,000 to cover non-cash provision associated with the research councils.

Capital DEL

The increase in the capital element of the DEL of £1,970,732,000 arises from a £93,408,000 decrease in the voted element of capital DEL and an increase of £2,064,140,000 in the non-voted element of capital DEL.

Voted Capital DEL

The £93,408,000 decrease in the voted element of the capital DEL arises from:

RfR1

Following the machinery of government changes a transfer of £19,932,000 from the BERR, a net receipt transfer of £456,700,000 from the DCSF.

A technical movement of £281,970,000 from non-voted capital DEL to offset original receipt for Science Research Investment Fund, included as part of the DCSF MOG transfers.

RfR2

Following the machinery of government changes a transfer of £299,000,000 from the BERR.

A technical movement of £281,970,000 to non-voted capital DEL to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) for the Science, Research Investment Fund.

A transfer of £32,391,000 from BERR voted capital for Science Research Investment Fund. A drawdown of EYF of £11,969,000 for capital Science Research Investment Fund.

Non-voted Capital DEL

The £2,064,140,000 increase in the non-voted element of capital DEL arises from:

Following the machinery of government changes a transfer of £395,569,000 from the BERR, a transfer of £1.622,962,000 from the DCSF.

A transfer of £45,609,000 from the BERR for capital provision associated with the research councils.

Administration Cost Budget

RfR1

Following the machinery of government changes a transfer of £14,690,000 from the BERR, a transfer of £43,450,000 from the DCSF.

A reclassification of £5,200,000 from programme provision to administration in relation to consultancy costs.

RfR2

Following the machinery of government changes a transfer of £8,500,000 from the BERR.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development (Douglas Alexander) has made the following Statement.

As a consequence of budgetary transfers associated with the winter supplementary estimates, the Department for International Development total departmental expenditure limit will be reduced by £4,995,000 from £5,259,352,000 to £5,254,357,000. Within the total DEL change, the impact on resource and capital is set out in the following table:

^* The total of administration budget and near-cash in resource DEL figures may well be greater than total resource DEL, due to the definitions overlapping.

^** Depreciation, which forms part of the resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL, since capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of these assets would lead to double counting.

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

Additions

£10,000 transferred from the Cabinet Office in respect of DfID’s use of the Parliamentary Counsel Office.

Reductions

£1,000,000 transferred to the Home Office, as a contribution to funds for migration projects;

a transfer of Global Conflict Prevention Pool to Foreign and Commonwealth office of £3,000,000 for quick-impact projects in Helmand province, Afghanistan;

a transfer to Department for Culture, Media and Sport for £1,000,000 in relation to the London 2012 international sport development initiative;

a transfer to Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of £5,000, which relates to a shortfall from a previous transfer made relating to Montreal protocol; and

a reduction of £73,000,000 arising from a reclassification of debt relief payments from current grants to capital grants.

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

Additions

an increase of £73,000,000 arising from a reclassification of debt relief payments from current grants to capital grants.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport (Ruth Kelly) has made the following Ministerial Statement.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for Transport departmental expenditure limit (DEL) for 2007-08 will be increased by £197,841,000 from £12,907,737,000 to £13,105,578,000 and the administration budget will be increased by £30,087,000 from £259,297,000 to £289,384,000.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital is as set out in the following table:

^* 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.

Resource Change: Administration (total increase of £30,087,000)

Voted: total increase of £30,711,000

RfR1

reclassification of certain consultancies from programme to administration (£38,288,000);

near-cash transfer from the Cabinet Office for the department’s share of Parliamentary Counsel Office costs (£292,000); and

partially offset by reclassification of front-line activities from administration to programme for transport security (£7,523,000 near-cash and £346,000 non-cash).

Non-voted: total decrease of £624,000

near-cash transfer from administration non-voted provision to the Department for Communities and Local Government as a contribution towards Government Offices’ voluntary severance costs (£624,000).

Resource Change: Programme (total increase of £191,006,000)

Voted: total increase of £168,077,000

take-up of £178,272,000 near-cash end-year flexibility covering: rail franchising costs (£136,858,000); Transport for London (£10,030,000); support for the introduction of a national concessionary fares scheme (£20,384,000); and lower than expected vehicle excise duty enforcement receipts (£11,000,000);

near-cash increase of £15,000,000 to reflect the reclassification of vehicle excise duty enforcement receipts following the end of the netting-off scheme from 2007-08;

a net transfer from non-voted resource provision of £14,171,000 comprising: near-cash cover for lower than expected vehicle excise duty enforcement receipts (£8,150,000); additional near-cash enforcement work including tackling identity fraud, targeted roadworthiness roadside checks and enforcing compliance with driver hours directive (£3,800,000); an increase in non-cash provision for the Driving Standards Agency trading fund to cover increased cost of capital charges (£600,000); an increase in non-cash provision for the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency trading fund to meet increased cost of capital charges (£1,700,000); an increase in near-cash provision for rail franchising costs (£163,000); a near-cash transfer of £7,900,000 to rail franchising from a reduction in utilisation of rail provision fully offset by an equivalent non-cash transfer; all partially offset by a near-cash transfer to non-voted provision for the Rail Passenger Council (£242,000);

a transfer from administration to reflect reclassification of front-line activities from administration to programme for transport security (£7,869,000);

partially offset by: a near-cash transfer to administration to reflect reclassification of certain consultancies (£38,288,000); and a near-cash transfer to the Scottish Executive for rail services (£8,947,000).

Non-voted: total increase of £22,929,000

take-up of £37,100,000 near-cash end-year flexibility to replace non-voted provision used to ensure that the main estimates correctly reflected the level of GLA transport grant; partially offset by a net transfer to voted resource provision of £14,171,000.

Capital Change (total decrease of £17,000,000)

Voted: total increase of £247,829,000

a transfer from non-voted capital provision of £264,829,000 comprising: a transfer from departmental unallocated provision to Network Rail capital grants (£168,000,000); a transfer from London and Continental Railways to Network Rail capital grants (£66,167,000); a transfer from British Transport Police to Network Rail capital grants (£2,500,000); and a reclassification from credit approvals to capital grant for local authorities’ detrunking (£35,362,000); partially offset by a transfer from the Driver and Vehicle Operators loan pool to investment for ongoing Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency projects (£7,200,000); and a transfer to the Scottish Executive for rail services (£17,000,000).

Non-voted: total decrease of £264,829,000, reflecting a net transfer to voted capital provision.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Peter Hain) has made the following Statement.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for Work and Pensions departmental expenditure limit will increase by £6,486,406 from £7,636,561,000 to £7,643,047,406 and the administration budget will increase by £17,880,000 from £5,798,484,000 to £5,816,364,000.

Within the departmental expenditure limit change, the impact on resource and capital is as set out in the following table:

^* 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 element of the departmental expenditure limit arises from:

Request for resources 3

(i) A HM Treasury reclassification of grant in aid of £1,093,000 paid to the pension protection fund from capital to resource (grants).

Request for resources 5

(ii) A drawdown of £6,000,000 from the financial inclusion fund in respect of the growth fund (administration).

(iii) A transfer of £280,000 from the Cabinet Office in respect of the expansion of the Parliamentary Counsel Office (administration).

Capital departmental expenditure limit

The change in the capital element of the departmental expenditure limit arises from:

Request for resources 2

A drawdown of £206,406 from the invest to save budget in respect of funding for the single homelessness enterprise project (£191,406) and the Aspire project (£15,000).

Request for resources 3

A HM Treasury reclassification of grant in aid of £1,093,000 paid to the pension protection fund from capital to resource.

Administration costs

The movement in the administration cost limit arises from the changes to the resource departmental expenditure limit as noted in items (i) to (iii) above, plus:

A transfer from other current to administration of £11,600,000,000 previously drawn down from the housing benefit reform fund to support the rent service.

Movements in non-voted expenditure

The reduction in non-voted resource expenditure is due to a reduction in the cost of administering national insurance fund benefit payments. This reduction is offset by an increase in voted resource due to an equivalent reduction in income from HM Revenue and Customs to meet the cost of administering national insurance fund benefit payments:

Request for resources 2

A reduction in non-voted resource expenditure of £23,571,000 offset by an increase in voted resource expenditure of £23,571,000.

Request for resources 3

A reduction in non-voted resource expenditure of £12,105,000 offset by an increase in voted resource expenditure of £12,105,000.

Request for resources 5

A reduction in non-voted resource expenditure of £10,090,000 offset by an increase in voted resource expenditure of £10,090,000.

My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (James Plaskitt) has made the following Statement.

Disability living allowance (DLA) and attendance allowance (AA) are paid to people with extra needs arising from their disabilities. These benefits are administered by the Disability and Carers Service. Where people have reached state pension age and are receiving state pension or pension credit, normal practice is to combine the payment of AA or DLA with state pension and pension credit so that the customer receives one combined weekly payment of benefit. These combined payments are administered by the Pension Service.

The department is responsible for administering more than 1.6 million such cases. It has recently been identified that, over a period dating from 1996, there are just over 4,000 cases where our customers have been paid in error by both the Pension Service and the Disability and Carers Service. The total amount overpaid is estimated to be some £26 million. Steps have already been taken to prevent such duplicate payments occurring in the future.

It is clearly right that where duplicate payments are being made the position should be corrected. However, given that the customers involved are both elderly and disabled, I have decided not to seek recovery of past overpayments, some of which go back as far as 1996, in cases where the customer clearly did not know they were being overpaid.

I recognise that some people will need help in adjusting their finances to the reduced, albeit correct, level of benefit. We believe that a very small number of the cases, around 50, involve people with a terminal illness and I judge it would not be appropriate to cause them and their families additional worry. In these cases, I propose to make ex gratia payments to maintain the higher level of payment. Based on information held by the department the estimated cost will be no more than £200,000 in a full year.

In all other cases I propose, at the same time as stopping the duplicate payment, to make in each case an ex gratia payment of between £100 and £350, depending on the length of time they have been overpaid. Beyond that, further ex gratia payments will be considered on an individual basis in case of exceptional needs. The total cost of making the ex gratia payments outlined above is estimated to be no more than £1.3 million.

Today my honourable friend the Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education (Bill Rammell) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement:

Lord Triesman will attend the Education Council on 15 November, representing both DIUS and DCSF interests. The agenda items are as follows:

Education

Ministers are expected to reach political agreement on the proposed European qualifications framework, following amendments agreed with the European Parliament. These amendments are in line with the general approach that was agreed at a previous council.

Ministers will be asked to adopt conclusions on improving the quality of teacher education. These are aimed at improving both teacher training and the qualifications required by teachers, which are not formalised in many European countries. The UK is content with the text.

Ministers are expected to adopt resolutions on “New skills for new jobs” and on “Education and training as a key driver of the Lisbon strategy”. These emphasise the importance of skills in the knowledge economy and the role of education and training in achieving the Lisbon goals. The education and skills contribution to the Lisbon agenda will be further discussed at an informal ministerial lunch.

It is expected that a general approach will be agreed on the extension of the Erasmus Mundus higher education programme from 2009-14. The UK supports this text. There will be an exchange of views on promoting the mobility of students, in particular regarding support for students from less favourable socio-economic backgrounds.

There will also be an exchange of views on an action plan to promote multilingualism and on a resolution on modernising universities for Europe’s global competitiveness. This resolution is to be finalised at the Competitiveness Council on 22 and 23 November.

Today my right honourable friend the Minister for Children, Young People and Families (Beverley Hughes) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

The deputy UK permanent representative, Anne Lambert, will attend the Youth Council on 16 November. The agenda items are as follows:

Ministers will be asked to adopt a resolution on implementing common objectives for voluntary activities of young people. The resolution reflects one of the thematic priorities of the ongoing open method of co-ordination for youth and also contributes to the joint presidency priorities for 2007-08 of better social and professional integration of young people. The UK is broadly in favour of this document as it currently stands and particularly supports its emphasis on the positive contribution many young people make to society.

Ministers are expected to agree conclusions on a transversal approach to youth policy. The conclusions call for a more cross-cutting, mainstreaming approach to youth policy across education and employment in the context of the Lisbon agenda. The UK supports this approach.

There will be an exchange of views on better consideration of youth issues in the implementation of the Lisbon strategy and implementing the European Youth Pact. The UK believes that the Youth Pact is best implemented through the national reform programmes and is anxious to avoid any additional burdens around youth-specific reporting.

My honourable friend the Minister for Europe (Jim Murphy) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

The General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) will be held on 19 and 20 November in Brussels. I will represent the UK at the Foreign Ministers’ discussions. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Des Browne) and my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development (Douglas Alexander) will attend the Defence and Development Ministers’ discussions.

The agenda items are as follows:

Foreign Ministers

General Affairs

Preparation of the European Council on 13/14 December

The council is expected to discuss the draft annotated agenda for the European Council in December on 13 and 14 December. As my right honourable friend the Prime Minister explained to Parliament on 22 October, the priority for the EU now must be the global challenges that we face: employment, prosperity, competitiveness, climate change and security. The Government look forward to the European Council addressing these issues when it meets next month.

Maritime Policy

The Commission is expected to brief the council on maritime policy. The Government consider it important to maintain and promote the competitiveness of the EU maritime sector as part of the Lisbon agenda.

Commission Legislative Work Programme 2008

The council is expected to discuss the Commission legislative work programme 2008, which the Government welcome, given its focus on delivering results, better regulation, tackling climate change and promoting jobs and growth.

External Relations

Preparation of the EU Summits with China and India

The council is expected to discuss preparation for the EU summits with China and India on 28 and 30 November respectively. The Government want the joint statements for the summits to cover climate security, including a commitment to work towards a low-carbon future and a successful outcome at the UN climate change conference in Bali, 3 to 14 December 2007. The Government will also want the summits to discuss Burma and to encourage all neighbours to bring their influence to bear on contributing towards a democratic and stable Burma.

Preparation of the EU Summit with Africa

The council is expected to discuss preparation for the EU summit with Africa on 8 December, including the endorsement of the EU-Africa joint strategy and the action plan, which the Government support, and discussion of governance and human rights issues at the summit. The Government will argue for a substantive discussion of these issues, including the situation in Zimbabwe.

Pakistan

The council is expected to discuss the state of emergency in Pakistan. The Government believe that it is important that the EU maintains pressure on President Musharraf to restore the constitution, as set out in the EU declaration of 6 November.

Middle East

The council is expected to discuss an action plan outlining ways in which the EU can provide further practical support to the Middle East peace process, which the Government welcome. The council is expected to adopt conclusions highlighting support for the Annapolis meeting in late November.

The council is expected to discuss Lebanon in light of political tensions surrounding the forthcoming presidential elections.

Iran

High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, is expected to brief the council on his contacts with the Iranian authorities and on his report to E3+3 Ministers (Germany, France, UK, China, Russia and the US), which we expect him to deliver before the GAERC. Ministers are expected to reaffirm the commitment that they made at the October GAERC to consider, after recommendations from working groups, the further steps that the EU can take to support the agreed twin-track international approach to the Iranian nuclear issue. The Government believe that it is crucial that Iran complies with its international obligations and the twin-track approach is the best way to achieve this goal.

Iraq

The council is expected to discuss EU engagement with Iraq. The Government welcome discussion of the EU’s financial, technical and political support towards a secure and stable Iraq. They also welcome Foreign Minister Zebari’s invitation to the council and the opportunity that this presents for the EU to step up its engagement.

Western Balkans

Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger is expected to brief the council on progress in talks between the troika (EU, Russia and US) and Belgrade and Pristina to secure a negotiated settlement on the status of Kosovo. The council is likely to adopt conclusions reaffirming its support for ongoing efforts by the troika to reach agreement on a status settlement in Kosovo and reiterating its support for High Representative Miroslav Lajcak in advancing key reforms in Bosnia. The Government fully support the efforts by the troika to find agreement, but will emphasise the importance of the EU being prepared to act in the event that agreement is not possible by December 10.

Georgia

The council is expected to discuss recent events in Georgia. The Government welcome this discussion, given the recent developments, including the declaration of a state of emergency by President Saakashvili in Georgia.

Joint Session of Foreign Ministers and Defence Ministers

European Security and Defence Policy Conclusions

The council is expected to adopt conclusions under the European security and defence policy (ESDP) on current operations and missions, capability development, including the European Defence Agency, human rights issues and co-operation between the EU and the African Union in strengthening African capabilities.

Chad/Sudan-Darfur

The council is expected to discuss the upcoming EU mission to Chad/Central African Republic, including force generation for the mission. The council is also expected to discuss the security situation in Sudan/Darfur, drawing on the ESDP council conclusions reaffirming the EU’s support for ongoing efforts by the UN and the African Union to resolve the conflict in Darfur and welcoming the forthcoming deployment of UNAMID, the UN/African Union Hybrid Mission in Darfur. The Government welcome the conclusions, strongly supporting the need for a comprehensive and regional approach.

Defence Ministers

European Defence Agency

The head of the European Defence Agency (EDA), Alexander Weis, will brief the council on the agency’s activities in 2007, before discussing the agency’s agenda in 2008.

The EDA steering board also meets on 19 November and is expected to agree the agency’s 2008 work programme. Ministers will also discuss the European defence research and technology strategy framework and the agency’s benchmarks.

Operation EUFOR Althea (Bosnia-Herzegovina)

The political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has deteriorated over the past year, leading the EU to postpone signature of BiH’s stabilisation and association agreement (the first of many steps towards EU membership) in October 2007, following the collapse of police reform talks. The Government believe that the EU and the international community should continue to encourage leaders in Bosnia to exercise restraint and to continue to engage in dialogue with each other and with the High Representative.

The council is expected to discuss EUFOR Althea, the EU military peacekeeping operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in light of these recent political developments. The Government support EUFOR remaining at current levels during this period of uncertainty.

Military Capabilities

The council will be briefed on the headline goal progress catalogue. This represents the finalisation of four years’ work from first instigation of the headline goal 2010 through the production of the requirements catalogue in 2005, the bidding stage in 2006 and finally the complex analysis of the shortfalls and risks that has been undertaken by the EU military staff and headline goal task force managed by successive presidencies. The Government want EU member states to focus on how to prioritise these shortfalls and decide where to invest resources. They will call for further consultation and co-operation with NATO and for work on improving the EU’s intra-theatre transport capability.

The High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, will present a paper identifying possible areas of improving EU military staff in early planning capability.

Joint Session of Development and Defence Ministers

Development and Security

The council will adopt conclusions on development and security in four areas: strategic planning, security sector reform, the EU-Africa partnership on security and development and humanitarian aid. The Government support the ongoing process in the EU to reinforce the security/development nexus. They will focus on ensuring delivery of an implementation plan and call for follow-up during successive presidencies.

Development Ministers

Orientation Debate on the Effectiveness of EU External Action

The council is expected to focus on the Africa-EU strategic partnership and action plans in advance of the EU-Africa summit on 8 December. Ministers will discuss the consequences and impacts of the strategy on EU external action, on the basis of a presidency paper. The Government will push for agreement of the strategy and action plans and continue to push for action on millennium development goals, climate change and peace and security. We expect member states to be supportive of the strategic partnership and its goals, and to commit to implementation of the strategy.

Towards an EU Response to Situations of Fragility

The council will adopt conclusions on the development of an EU policy and improved practices on the situation of fragile states. The EU’s response to fragile situations is critical, as fragile states pose a great challenge, both in terms of the achievement of the millennium development goals and in terms of global and regional security. The Government support the implementation of the measures proposed in the Commission’s communication to increase co-ordination and coherence.

Policy Coherence for Development

The council is expected to adopt conclusions on policy coherence for development, including on climate change and migration. The discussion is expected to focus on the launch of the EU's first two-yearly report, reporting on the extent to which EU member states have fulfilled their commitments to integrate development concerns within broader policy-making and highlighting key outstanding issues for the next reporting period.

Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)

The council will discuss the Commission's communication on economic partnership agreements. The core of the Commission's strategy is to agree goods-only agreements this year ahead of the deadline on 1 January before returning to services and other trade-related areas in the future. The Government want to ensure that EPAs deliver on their development potential. The Government will also want to make clear that the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries should not be bound to taking commitments on non-goods issues. It is their choice to negotiate on those elements.

Advancing Agriculture in Africa

The council is expected to discuss the advancing African agriculture strategy proposal for continental and regional-level co-operation on agricultural development in Africa, which the Government support. A better aligned and coherent EU response will help Africa to achieve its goal of agricultural-led growth and a more predictable response to dealing with hunger, and be better equipped to respond to the challenges presented by climate change.

Partnership with Cape Verde

The council is expected to discuss a partnership between the EU and the Republic of Cape Verde, a small Portuguese-speaking island off the coast of west Africa. In line with the Cotonou agreement, this anticipates that Cape Verde will become a partner in increased police and judicial co-operation with Europe.

AOB: Ratification on the Cotonou Partnership Agreement

EU member states need to ratify the revised EU's partnership agreement with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states (known as the Cotonou agreement) and the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) by the end of 2007 in order for both to come into effect. Member states that have not already done so will be encouraged to conclude their ratification processes as soon as possible. The Government completed their ratification process in September.

My right honourable friend the Minister of State, Department of Health (Dawn Primarolo) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Subject to the necessary supplementary estimate, the Food Standards Agency’s element of the departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £9,800,000 from £144,539,000 to £154,339,000 and the administration cost limit will be increased by £4,100,000 from £52,415,000 to £56,515,000. The net cash requirement will also increase by £18,800,000 from £141,731,000 to £160,531,000 as a result of the £9,800,000 change in net total resources and additional £9,000,000 cash required to fund an expected decrease in creditors. The impact on resource and capital are set out in the following table:

^* Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL since the capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.

The increase in net total resources and capital is by a take-up of end-year flexibility (EYF) of £9,800,000. Of this, £4,100,000 is an increase in near-cash administration costs, which will be used to fund restructuring of the Food Standards Agency’s headquarters operations and related accommodation and support services costs. Near-cash programme costs increase by £4,400,000 to assist with the restructuring of the Meat Hygiene Service. The balance of £1,300,000 is an increase in capital and will be used to fund an increased investment in IT hardware and infrastructure. All these measures will help to deliver the efficiency savings required as part of the CSR settlement.

As a result of the change to net total resources, capital and the additional £9,000,000 cash required to fund the decrease in creditors, the net cash requirement will increase by £18,800,000.

My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Meg Munn) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £48,122,000 from £1,840,333,000 to £1,888,455,000. The administration budget will be increased by £14,000 from £870,046,000 to £870,060,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

* The total of administration budget and near-cash in resource DEL figures may well be greater than total resource DEL, due to the definitions overlapping.

** Capital DEL includes items treated as resource in estimates and accounts but as capital DEL in budgets.

*** 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 DEL arises from:

Request for Resources 1

Administration

£14,000 transfer of administration budget from Cabinet Office in respect of the Privy Council Office.

Programme

take-up of £22,000,000 other current end-year flexibility for departmental restructuring;

transfer of £7,000,000 other current expenditure to Home Office for the Border and Immigration Agency;

transfer of £5,300,000 programme expenditure to the security and intelligence agencies to cover expansion and capability; and

a £3,407,000 claim on the DEL reserve in respect of emergency disaster relief.

Neutral Changes

increased other current expenditure of £60,000,000, fully offset by income, for consular and visa work; and

increased other current expenditure of £2,830,000, fully offset by income, in respect of anti-narcotics work.

Capital

take-up of £35,000,000 end-year flexibility in respect of the FCO estate.

Request for Resources 2

Programme

transfer of £3,000,000 from DfID in respect of conflict prevention operations in Afghanistan; and

transfer of £3,000,000 programme expenditure to security and intelligence agencies to cover expansion and capability.

My right honourable friend the Lord Privy Seal (Harriet Harman) has made the following Statement.

The Transfer of Functions (Equality) Order 2007 (No. 2914) confirms the establishment of the Government Equalities Office and details the functions that have transferred from the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. The transfer of functions from the Department of Communities and Local Government came into force on 12 October 2007.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Government Equalities Office departmental expenditure limit will be set at £73,430,000 and the administration budget will be set at £3,885,000. The departmental expenditure limit includes £46,500,000 resource and £7,000,000 capital funding for the Commission for Equality and Human Rights.

Within the departmental expenditure limit, the impact on resource and capital is as set out in the following table:

^* The total of administration budget and near-cash figures may be greater than total resource departmental expenditure limit, due to the definitions overlapping.

^** Capital departmental expenditure limit includes items treated as resource in estimates and accounts but treated as capital departmental expenditure limit in budgets.

^*** Depreciation, which forms part of resource departmental expenditure limit, is excluded from the total departmental expenditure limit since capital departmental expenditure limit includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health (Alan Johnson) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

The independent sector is playing an important and increasing role within the NHS, providing high-quality treatment and choice for patients, and innovation, dynamism and contestability for existing National Health Service providers. Alongside the hard work of staff and in every organisation, the use of the independent sector is an integral part of our success in delivering dramatic falls in waiting times for patients. That is why we have taken a number of measures to make better use of the independent sector:

in the first wave of the independent sector treatment centre (ISTC) programme we established 23 fixed site ISTCs, a mobile ophthalmology service, a mobile MRI scanning service, a chlamydia screening service and six walk-in centres. This investment worth over £1.4 billion has provided nearly 800,000 elective procedures, diagnostic assessments and episodes of primary care to NHS patients and is helping to reduce waiting times in those areas. I am today providing further information on each first-wave scheme, including the contract value, volume of activity, case mix by volume and utilisation rates, and in future these data will be published annually;

there has been rapid growth in patients choosing to be referred to the 129 independent sector hospitals currently registered under the extended choice scheme. The value of activity has doubled in the last month alone. From April 2008, all patients referred for an elective procedure will be able to choose to go to any hospital in England which meets NHS standards and price. This already applies for orthopaedics and from December will cover general surgery, gynaecology and cardiology; and

we are procuring additional GP services through the fairness in primary care initiative from a range of providers including the independent sector, and as announced last month we will be inviting bidders for further primary care contracts as we roll out new GP-led health centres and extra GP surgeries in deprived areas. In addition, we are offering primary care trusts the opportunity to use independent sector expertise in developing their commissioning function.

As I said to the Health Select Committee in July, independent sector procurement will have to meet the local needs of patients and offer sound value for money for taxpayers. Where it meets these requirements we will increase the role of the independent sector in the provision of NHS services.

The department has therefore undertaken a thorough revalidation of all the schemes currently being procured nationally through the ISTC programme to ensure they meet these objectives.

The director-general of the commercial directorate has advised that I proceed with the procurement of the following schemes:

PET CT North Diagnostics (additional CT scans);

PET CT South Diagnostics (additional CT scans);

Renal (provision of dialysis treatment);

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Electives (Southampton element);

Greater Manchester (B) Clinical Assessment and Treatment Services;

Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Electives;

Essex Electives;

Hertfordshire Electives;

Greater Manchester (A) Clinical Assessment and Treatment Services; and

London North Electives.

I am pleased to announce that three of these—PET CT North, PET CT South and the Renal scheme—have been approved to move to financial close. The department will conclude decisions on the remaining schemes no later than the end of March 2008.

However, the director-general has concluded that the following schemes should not proceed as they were unlikely to provide acceptable value for money as the local NHS has successfully improved capacity to meet patients’ needs. These are:

North East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire Referral Assessment Diagnostics and Treatment Service;

North East Diagnostics;

South East Diagnostics;

Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridge Electives;

Cumbria and Lancashire Clinical Assessment and Treatment Service; and

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Electives (Lymington element).

In addition, the director-general has advised that the contract with Care UK for the provision of diagnostic services in the West Midlands should be terminated because of an unacceptably low rate of use (5 per cent utilisation to date), and a very low prospect of the utilisation increasing which represents poor value for money to the taxpayer. In short, a significant increase in productivity by local NHS providers has substantially reduced the need for the capacity provided by this scheme with waiting times for most diagnostics reduced from more than one year to currently three weeks on average.

The reduction in the overall size of the procurement does not represent a change in policy. As I have stated before, we will continue to use the independent sector. However, as I said to the Health Select Committee, we will now move towards greater local procurement of services. This will enable primary care trusts to take procurement decisions quickly on behalf of their patients rather than waiting for a prolonged process run from Whitehall. We believe that this will be a more effective route for increasing the quality of the role which the independent sector is able to provide in the NHS

To support this move I am announcing today the establishment of an independent sector procurement forum as a means for independent and third sector providers to advise the department on policies and practices related to local procurement of clinical services in order to ensure a level playing field. The forum will draw on a range of expertise and experience, including Ivan Bradbury of InHealth Netcare and Sir Ian Carruthers of the South West Strategic Health Authority. The forum will be advisory and act as a channel for the market to communicate and advise the department on PCT procurement policies and practices.

We remain committed to choice, to empower patients and drive improvements in the quality of care. For choice to be truly effective, and for all providers to be able to compete fairly, it is essential that all patients are aware that they can now choose the hospital they are referred to. In the run-up to the start of free choice, we will raise public awareness of choice through, for example, NHS Choices and other means, as well as encouraging local providers to inform patients about the local choices available to them, and publishing a code of promotion to help guide them in this. To ensure fairness we will also:

publish clear competition principles and simple rules for commissioners and providers to apply consistently for all those that provide services on behalf of the NHS, including social enterprise and third sector organisations as well as the independent sector;

establish a competition panel to provide independent advice on competition issues to SHAs, which they would be expected to follow working closely with their PCTs. The panel will only consider issues where action to resolve issues have been exhausted; and

seek to open up membership of the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST) to many non-NHS providers of NHS care.

Our approach to the independent sector is pragmatic, not ideological. Where independent sector providers offer good value for money, innovation, and high-quality patient care, we will continue to bring them in to work as part of the family of NHS providers.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department (Jacqui Smith) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Plans of changes to the departmental expenditure limit (DEL) and administrative budget for 2007-08:

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Home Office’s departmental expenditure limit for 2007-08 will be reduced by £5,219,311,000, from £14,467,130,000 to £9,247,819,000, and the administration budget will be reduced by £204,151,000, from £618,291,000 to £414,140,000.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

^* The total of the administration budget and near-cash in resource DEL figures may well be greater than total resource DEL, due to the definitions overlapping.

^** Capital DEL includes items treated as resource in estimates and accounts but which are treated as capital DEL in budgets.

^*** Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from 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 DEL arises from:

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

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Des Browne) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Ministry of Defence departmental expenditure limits (DEL) will be increased by £2,033,379 from £33,561,172 to £35,594,551,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table.

*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 changes to the resource and capital elements of the DEL arise from:

the take-up of normal resource end-year flexibility of £21,000,000 and capital resource end-year flexibility of £65,000,000;

resource transfers in from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) of £4,863,000 as a contribution to the National Meteorological Programme and Severe Weather Warning Service, £200,000 from the Cabinet Office in respect of future funding arrangements for the expansion of the Parliamentary Counsel Office, and £42,525,000 from the Security & Intelligence Services Agency in respect of support service funding for GCHQ;

a resource transfer out of £149,000 to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport as a contribution to the Leeds Armouries Museum Pattern Room staffing costs, and a resource transfer of £4,000,000 out to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform as a contribution to the global partnership against the spread of weapons and materials of mass destruction;

to use £55,000,000 of additional income that will be paid to the Consolidated Fund with a corresponding increase in direct RDEL available to the department;

to increase Request for Resources 2 by £1,315,000,000 resource near-cash DEL and £604,000,000 capital DEL to reflect the costs of peace-keeping in Iraq and Afghanistan;

to transfer £70,000,000 from voted capital DEL to non-voted near-cash resource DEL to cover planned cash release of provision payments;

to transfer £455,000,000 capital resource to direct resource within RfR1 relating to single-use military equipment (SUME) flexibility;

to recognise a grant-in-aid payment to the Royal Irish Benevolent Fund of £60,000 by increasing non-budget expenditure and reducing near-cash resource DEL.

The changes to resource DEL and capital DEL will lead to an increased net cash requirement of £2,158,439,000.

My right honourable friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Northern Ireland Court Service and the National Archives total departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased as follows:

Total DEL for Ministry of Justice (RfR1, 2 and 3) will be increased by £5,843,241,000 from £3,784,762,000 to £9,628,003,000 and the administration budget will be increased by £189,180,000 from £523,536,000 to £712,716,000.

Total DEL for the Northern Ireland Court Service (NICS) will be reduced by £1,749,000 from £132,319,000 to £130,570,000 and there is no change in administration budget.

Total DEL for the National Archives (TNA) will be increased by £3,379,000 from £44,161,000 to £47,540,000 and the administration budget will be reduced by £43,711,000 due to a reclassification from administration to programme budget.

Within the total DEL change for Ministry of Justice (RfR1, 2 and 3), the impact on resources and capital is as set out in the following table:

* The total of administration budget and near-cash in resource DEL figures may well be greater than total resource DEL, due to the definitions overlapping.

** Capital DEL includes items treated as resource in estimates and accounts but as capital DEL in budgets.

*** 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 and capital element of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) DEL arises from:

RfR1: to promote the development of a modern, fair, cost-effective and efficient system of justice for all.

Resource Change: Admin (total increase of £189,133,000)

Machinery of government transfers:

Increase of £160,053,000 in resource in relation to the transfer of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) from the Home Office.

Increase of £18,903,000 in resource in relation to the transfer of the Office for Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR) from the Home Office.

Increase of £7,909,000 in resource in relation to the transfer of Corporate Services from the Home Office.

Increase of £2,268,000 in resource in relation to the transfer of the Privy Council Secretariat and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council from the Privy Council Office.

Resource Change: Admin (total decrease of £485,000)

Decrease £485,000 in resource in relation to the transfer of the responsibility for the audit of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) by HM Inspectorate of Court Administration to the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) in the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Resource Change: Programme (total increase of £5,218,287,000

Machinery of government transfers:

Increase of £4,485,719,000 in resource in relation to the transfer of NOMS from the Home Office.

Increase of £317,932,000 in resource in relation to the transfer of the OCJR from the Home Office.

Increase of £1,027,000 in resource in relation to the transfer of Corporate Services from the Home Office.

Take-up of end-year flexibility (EYF):

Increase of £70,000,000 in resource in relation to the modernisation fund.

Increase of £52,000,000 in resource in relation to funding for the service upgrade project (SUPS), PROGRESS and other projects.

Increase of £30,000,000 in resource in relation to the reform and modernisation programme (RAMP).

Increase of £28,000,000 in resource in relation to elections funding.

Other increases:

Increase of £192,000,000 in resource in relation to an uplift of non-cash in the CSR07 baseline.

Increase of £21,675,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer from the National Policing Improvement Authority, part of the Home Office to NOMS in relation to NOMIS project.

Increase of £11,650,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer from the Home Office to the Youth Justice Board in relation to the Criminal Justice IT (CJIT) funding.

Increase of £2,563,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer from the Home Office to OCJR in relation to CJIT funding.

Increase of £2,470,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer from the Home Office to be transferred on to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in relation to CJIT funding.

Increase of £1,561,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer from the Home Office in relation to the Violent Crime Reduction Act.

Increase of £685,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer from the Parliamentary Counsel Office.

Increase of £774,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer from the DIUS to NOMS in relation to learning and skills costs for immigration removal centres.

Increase of £230,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) to NOMS in relation to Police ICT Academy costs.

Increase of £1,000 in resource in relation to an increase in grant to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Resource Change: Programme (total decrease of (£25,606,000)

Other decreases:

Decrease of £12,783,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer to the CPS in relation to CJIT funding.

Decrease of £6,270,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer to the DIUS in relation to prisoner education costs.

Decrease of £2,225,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer to the Department for Communities and Local Government—Government Equalities Office in respect of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights.

Decrease of £1,400,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer to the Home Office in relation to property group.

Decrease of £1,291,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer to the CPS in relation local criminal justice boards.

Decrease of £635,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer to the Department of Health in relation to prisoner healthcare costs.

Decrease of £539,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer to the CPS in relation to PROGRESS funding.

Decrease of £245,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer to the Welsh Assembly in relation to the health funds for Wales.

Decrease of £218,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer to the CPS in relation to violent crime reduction.

Capital Change (total increase of £663,968,000)

Machinery of government transfer:

Increase of £512,903,000 in capital in relation to the transfer of NOMS from the Home Office.

Increase of £37,536,000 in capital in relation to the transfer of the OCJR from the Home Office.

Increase of £10,000,000 in capital in relation to the transfer of Corporate Services from the Home Office.

Increase of £87,000 in capital in relation to the transfer of the Privy Council Secretariat and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council from the Privy Council Office.

Take-up of end-year flexibility (EYF):

Increase of £30,000,000 in ring-fenced capital funding in relation to the reform and modernisation programme (RAMP).

Other increases:

Increase of £50,000,000 in capital in relation to an uplift in CSR07 baseline.

Increase of £17,482,000 in capital in relation to a budgetary transfer from the Home Office to NOMS in relation to CJIT funding.

Increase of £3,960,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer from the Home Office to the Youth Justice Board in relation to capital CJIT funding.

Increase of £2,000,000 in capital DEL in relation to CORE capital grants.

RfR2: overseeing the effective operation of the devolution settlement in Scotland and representing the interests of Scotland in the UK Government.

Resource Change: Admin (total increase of £56,000)

Other increases:

Increase of £56,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer from the Scottish Parliament in relation to information technology costs.

RfR3: to support the Secretary of State in discharging his role of representing Wales in the UK Government, representing the UK Government in Wales and ensuring the smooth running of the devolution settlement in Wales

Resource Change: Admin (total increase of £476,000)

Other increases:

Increase of £226,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer from the Parliamentary Counsel Office.

Increase of £220,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer from the Welsh Assembly in relation to a non-cash requirement to cover increased impairment charges.

Increase of £30,000 in resource in relation to a budgetary transfer from the Welsh Assembly in relation to Lords Lieutenant costs.

There is no change in the capital element of RfR2 and RfR3 DEL.

Within the total DEL change for the Northern Ireland Court Service, the impact on resources and capital is as set out in the following table:

* The total of administration budget and near-cash in resource DEL figures may well be greater than total resource DEL, due to the definitions overlapping.

** 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 and capital element of the Northern Ireland Court Service (NICS) DEL arises from:

Resource Change: Programme (total increase of £871,000)

Other increases:

Increase of £741,000 in non-voted resource relating to a machinery of government transfer from the Northern Ireland Office to cover spending by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel of Northern Ireland when transferred from the Northern Ireland Office on 1 December 2007.

Increase of £130,000 in non-voted resource relating to an increase in the grant in aid paid to the Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission.

Resource Change: Programme (total decrease of £130,000)

Other decreases:

Decrease of £130,000 in resource to finance an increase in grant in aid paid to the Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission.

Capital Change (total increase of £10,000)

Other increases:

Increase of £10,000 in capital arises from the transfer of capital spending of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel of Northern Ireland when transferred from the Northern Ireland Office on 1 December 2007.

Within the total DEL change for the National Archives, the impact on resources and capital is as set out in the following table:

* The total of administration budget and near-cash in resource DEL figures may well be greater than total resource DEL, due to the definitions overlapping.

** 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 and capital element of the National Archives DEL arises from:

Resource Change: Admin (total decrease of £46,015,000)

Other decreases:

Decrease of £42,852,000 in resource in relation to a transfer from administration budget to programme in respect of Public Records Office following a review of the categorisation of the budget that deemed it appropriate to reclassify administration spend as programme.

Decrease of £2,016,000 in resource in relation to a transfer from administration budget to programme in respect of the Office of Public Sector Information following a review of the categorisation of the budget that deemed it appropriate to reclassify administration spend as programme.

Decrease of £1,147,000 in resource in relation to a transfer from administration budget to programme in respect of Historical Manuscripts Commission following a review of the categorisation of the budget that deemed it appropriate to reclassify administration spend as programme.

Appropriation in Aid (A in A) Change: Admin (total decrease of £2,304,000)

Decrease of £2,304,000 in A in A in relation to a reclassification of income from administration spend to programme.

Resource Change: Programme (total increase of £46,016,000)

Other increases:

Increase of £42,852,000 in resource in relation to a transfer from administration budget to programme in respect of Public Records Office following a review of the categorisation of the budget that deemed it appropriate to reclassify administration spend as programme.

Increase of £2,016,000 in resource in relation to a transfer from administration budget to programme in respect of the Office of Public Sector Information following a review of the categorisation of the budget that deemed it appropriate to reclassify administration spend as programme.

Increase of £1,147,000 in resource in relation to a transfer from administration budget to programme in respect of Historical Manuscripts Commission following a review of the categorisation of the budget that deemed it appropriate to reclassify administration spend as programme.

A token increase in resource of £1,000 reflecting the increase in gross resource of £5,142,000 and an increase in operating appropriations in aid (A in A) of £5,141,000 to cover increased service delivery costs and activity.

Appropriation in Aid (A in A) Change: Programme (total increase of £2,304,000)

Increase of £2,304,000 in A in A in relation to a reclassification of income from admin spend to programme.

Capital Change (total increase of £4,285,000)

Take-up of end-year flexibility (EYF):

Increase of £4,285,000 in capital in relation to improvements to facilities at Kew.

My honourable friend the Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office and Minister for the East Midlands (Gillian Merron) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the National School of Government departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £802,000 from £415,000 to £1,217,000 and the administration costs limit will be £1,217,000. Voted capital will increase by £401,000 to £1,270,000. These figures reflect a take-up of end-year flexibility from 2006-07 and a transfer of £200,000 from resource to capital.

Within the DEL change, the impact of resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

* The total of the administration budget and the near cash in resource DEL figures may well be greater than the total resource DEL, due to definitions overlapping.

** Capital DEL includes items treated as resources in estimates and accounts but which are treated as capital DEL in budgets.

*** 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 Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Shaun Woodward) has made the following Ministerial Statement.

Subject to parliamentary approval, the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) will be taking a 2007-08 winter supplementary estimate. The effect will be to increase the NIO’s DEL by £190,138,000 from £1,163,537,000 to £1,353,675,000.

The change in total DEL of £190,138,000 relates primarily to the drawdown of end-year flexibility of £172,500,000, of which £69,500,000 is near-cash resource and £103,000,000 is non-cash. There is an increase of £30,000,000 in respect of a change in the discount rate for police pensions; a resource budget transfer of £165,000 from the Cabinet Office, and a machinery of government change of £751,000 to transfer responsibility for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel to the Northern Ireland Court Service.

The cash drawdown is in relation to the additional resource requirement for various business areas within the department, such as political inquiries, Public Prosecution Service, NIPS, YJA, criminal justice, Bloody Sunday inquiry, PSNI, Probation Board and Policing Board. The non-cash element is required for Public Prosecution Service, Compensation Agency, Youth Justice Agency and PSNI.

The administration budget increases by £3,045,000 from £78,824,000 to £81,869,000 as a result of the take-up of end-year flexibility and the resource budget transfer from the Cabinet Office.

The reduction in capital DEL of £10,000 is the machinery of government transfer of responsibility for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel to the Northern Ireland Court Service.

My honourable friend the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Angela Eagle) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Office for National Statistics’ total departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £941,000 from £174,237,000 to £175,178,000, and the administration budget will be increased by £1,491,000.

Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital is as set out in the following table:

^* The total of administration budget and near-cash in resource DEL figures may well be greater than total resource DEL, due to the definitions overlapping.

^** Capital DEL includes items treated as resource in estimates and accounts but treated as capital DEL in budgets.

^*** 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 DEL arises from:

take-up of end-year flexibility (EYF) of £777,000 from the invest to save budget as set out in the public outturn White Paper (CM 7156); and

transfer of £164,000 from the Cabinet Office in respect of Civil Service statistics.

The change in the administration budget arises from the take-up of administration DEL EYF of £777,000 from the invest to save budget, the transfer of £164,000 from the Cabinet Office and a reclassification, from programme to admin, of £550,000 EU expenditure.

My right honourable friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Jane Kennedy) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the HM Revenue and Customs total DEL will be increased by £76,487,000 from £4,547,630,000 to £4,624,117,000. Within the total DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

* The total of administration budget and near-cash in resource DEL figures may well be greater than total resource DEL, due to the definitions overlapping.

** DEL includes items treated as resource in estimates and accounts but as capital DEL in budgets.

*** 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 DEL arises from:

£44,500,000 administration costs, from the modernisation fund to modernise and transform HMRC;

£30,000,000 administration near-cash costs, from the DEL reserve to expand call centre capacity;

£1,587,000 administration near-cash costs transferred from the Cabinet Office in respect of Parliamentary Counsel Office funding;

£1,400,000 take-up of end-year flexibility (EYF) in accordance with the public expenditure outturn White Paper (Cm 7156). This is from programme expenditure EYF, agreed to be spent as administration costs; and

£1,000,000 programme near-cash expenditure transferred to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).

The change in the administration budget arises from the changes detailed in the resource element above, excluding the £1,000,000 programme transfer to SOCA.

My right honourable friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Jane Kennedy) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

A new double taxation convention with Slovenia was signed on 13 November 2007. After signature, the text of the convention was deposited in the Libraries of both Houses and made available on the HM Revenue and Customs website. The text of the convention will be scheduled to a draft Order in Council and laid before the House of Commons in due course.

My honourable friend the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Angela Eagle) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, HM Treasury's total departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £6,028,000 from £223,420,000 to £229,448,000. Within the total DEL change, the impact on resources and capital is set out in the following table:

*The total of Administration budget and Near cash in Resource DEL figures may well be greater than total resource DEL, due to definitions overlapping.

**Capital DEL includes items treated as resource in estimates and accounts but which are treated as capital DEL in budgets.

***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 DEL arises from:

A machinery of government transfer of £4,028,000 (within the administration budget) from the Cabinet Office in respect of the transfer of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit to HM Treasury;

Drawdown of £2,000,000 (within the administration budget) from the Financial Inclusion Fund to finance the Thoresen review;

Take-up of departmental unallocated provision of £8,491,000 for OGC structural exits—a transfer from non-voted to voted spending within DEL.