§ 12. Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to ensure that the figure in annual White Papers on public expenditure are explicitly reconciled with the figures in annual Financial Statements and Budget Reports.
§ Mr. BrittanThe figures are reconciled in table 16 of the Financial Statement and Budget Report.
§ Mr. WainwrightDoes the right hon. and learned Gentleman agree that, even taking account of the use of that table, the House has no idea whether last year's substantial overspend was mainly an overspending of volume or was caused by excessively high prices? Will he assist the House in trying to control government expenditure?
§ Mr. BrittanI do not accept that there is any failure of information on that score. The combination of information provided in the public expenditure White Paper and the Red Book, and the information supplied to the House in debates, as well as the information provided to the Treasury and Civil Service Select Committee, enable those interested in these matters to take a view about what has happened, on the basis of the facts.