HC Deb 25 April 1961 vol 639 cc206-7
7. Mr. du Cann

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table showing for each of the last 15 years the total national income, the total of all Government and local government expenditure, and the percentage the latter is of the former.

Mr. Selwyn Lloyd

Yes, Sir. With permission, I will circulate the table in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Mr. du Cann

While thanking my right hon. and learned Friend for that reply, may I ask whether he will be good enough to consider publishing these figures on an annual basis, so that the country as a whole can see whether Government expenditure in relation to national income is being contained or otherwise? Would he now say whether those figures show, as a trend, a decrease or an increase?

Mr. Lloyd

They show a varying trend—the figures are from 1946 onwards—but, as I think I have said, the last three years show an upward trend. I think that the answer to the first part of my hon. Friend's supplementary question is also "Yes, Sir".

Following is the table:

Year Gross national product at factor cost* Central and local Government expenditure† Col. (3) as a percentage of col. (2)
(1) (2) (3) (4)
£ million £ million
1946 8,787 4,577 52.1
1947 9,387 4,175 44.5
1948 10,446 4,232 40.5
1949 11,136 4,587 41.2
1950 11,695 4,588 39.2
1951 12,850 5,257 40.9
1952 14,005 5,833 41.6
1953 14,951 6,101 40.8
1954 15,981 6,039 37.8
1955 17,033 6,241 36.6
1956 18,380 6,772 36.8
1957 19,472 6,978 35.8
1958 20,392 7,417 36.4
1959 21,081 7,824 37.1
1960 22,292 8,334 37.4
* The figures for 1955–1960 are taken from the recent National Income White Paper (Cmnd. 1333) and incorporate revisions which have not yet been carried back to the figures for earlier years. The effect of the revisions in 1955 was to reduce the figure in the final column by 0.2.
† These figures are taken from Table 42 of the Blue Book "National Income and Expenditure 1960" with comparable figures for 1946–1949 and 1960. They cover current and capital expenditure on goods and services, debt interest, subsidies and grants by the Central Government (including the National Insurance Funds) and local authorities but exclude loans and other transactions in financial assets.