The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Matthew Hancock)
The Cabinet Office has sought an advance in the amount of £100 million from the Contingencies Fund to cover pension payments for which net cash requirement has been sought in the main estimate 2016-17 but the amount voted on account is forecast to be insufficient. The reason for this is that the forecast income has been lower than predicted and there has been a higher than expected level of lump sum payments in this first quarter of the year. The Supply Bill which authorises the balance of the expenditure is not due to be voted until late July 2016.
An amount of £40 million is required to fund the pension payments and an amount of £60 million is required to fund the payment to HMRC in respect of the tax due for pensions paid.
Parliamentary authority for resources of £7,905,416,000 has been sought in a main estimate for the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £100 million will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund.
[HCWS46]