Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what estimate he has made of his Department's expected underspend against Departmental Expenditure Limits in 2015-16; what his Department's forecast is of total Annually Managed Expenditure in 2015-16; and what that forecast was at the time of the (a) Summer Budget 2015 and (b) March Budget 2015.

As recommended by the Treasury, Departments are encouraged to maintain a reserve. The Wales Office maintains a reserve of around 5% of its annual Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL), which represents our forecast underspend. This underspend can increase or decrease if planned expenditure is higher or lower than expected. In 2015-16, our DEL is £4.432m which includes the Departmental reserve of £0.222m. Our forecast of Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) is £-0.020m.

The reserve stated above was also our forecast underspend at the time of the summer budget in 2015. The Department does not forecast underspends for the following financial year at the March budget. Each March, the Wales Office focuses on completing the financial transactions and processes of that current financial year.