HC Deb 14 April 1930 vol 237 cc2660-1

I now turn to the expenditure of last year. The Debt charge was fixed at £355,000,000, and that sum was duly issued from the National Exchequer. I propose to refer to this item in more detail a little later. The Consolidated Fund Services other than Debt charge showed a saving of £l,700,000, due mainly to the reduction in the payment to the Local Taxation Account. In the case of the Supply Services, the original estimates amounted to £363,064,000. During the course of the year, Supplementary Estimates were presented to an amount of £12,333,000, raising the total to £375,397,000. The sum actually issued was £3,837,000 below the total Estimates, but £8,496,000 in excess of the original estimates in the Budget. The main Supplementary Estimates were required, as the Committee know, in connection with the Ministry of Labour, namely, £7,650,000; the Beet Sugar Subsidy, £1,250,000; the Fighting Services, £1,320,000; Dominion Services £752,000. Minor excesses spread over a number of other Votes, accounted altogether for £1,400,000. The savings were similarly spread over many Votes and do not require separate mention. Taking together the Consolidated Fund and Supply Services, the expenditure exceeded the total estimate by £6,748,000, or about £1,000,000 less than the amount of the Ministry of Labour Supplementaries. On previous occasions, I have indicated in this House my view that had we, on our arrival in Office, found the Unemployment Fund in a solvent condition, no Supplementary Estimate for the Ministry of Labour last year would have been required. The other Supplementary Estimates were more than balanced by savings.