§ 12. Mr. Canavanasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the most up-to-date estimate of the public sector borrowing requirement for the current year.
§ 17. Mr. Kenneth Lewisasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what forecast he can now make on the public sector borrowing requirement up to April 1979.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettMy best estimate of the public sector borrowing requirement for 1978–79 remains the Budget forecast of £8.5 billion.
§ Mr. CanavanBearing in mind that in each of the last two financial years the Treasury has overestimated the public sector borrowing requirement, will my right hon. Friend take immediate steps to increase public expenditure now in areas such as education, where the educational opportunity of thousands of 1564 children could be improved by employing extra teachers who are otherwise threatened with unemployment? Will he also initiate a more generous school building programme, which will help to provide jobs for some of the 250,000 construction workers on the dole?
§ Mr. BarnettWith great respect, much as I should want to achieve the objectives set out by my hon. Friend, I doubt whether increasing the borrowing requirement and increasing public expenditure in the way that he described would help either those people or anyone else in the country.
§ Mr. PowellIf the estimate is the same as in the Budget, what has happened to the effects of the amendments made to the Finance Bill in the course of its passage?
§ Mr. BarnettAs the right hon. Gentleman will be aware, the Finance Bill is not yet through. We do not yet know whether there will be any change to the Budget Statement of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.