§ Expenditure above the line was £5,103 million, £28 million more than the original estimate. Defence expenditure exceeded the estimate of £1,418 million by £50 million. This was the result partly of increased expenditure, mainly for the Navy, and partly of a reduction of £35 million in the German contribution towards local defence costs resulting from the new Agreement. Civil supply expenditure at £2,849 million was only £8 million above the original estimate, extra expenditure on a number of services being offset by substantial savings on agricultural and other Votes.
34§ I must congratulate my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on having a better record to date in this matter of the cost of agricultural assistance than his immediate predecessor had during his last year. I hope that he will keep this up—his record, not his expenditure—without, of course, raising the cost of food in any way to the consumer. The additional supply expenditure was partly offset by a saving of £30 million in expenditure on Consolidated Fund Services, which had been estimated at £816 million. This was mainly the result of the reduction in short-term interest rates to which I have already referred. To sum up the result above the line, there was a surplus of £377 million, compared with my estimate of £364 million. I must apologise for the discrepancy. I have not holed out, but I have at least got on to the green.