§
1. This note summarises the main public expenditure decisions which have been taken for 1982–83. They are in cash*. They will be set out in full, along with the planning figures for 1983–4 and 1984–5, in the next public expenditure White Paper to be published at the time of the Budget.
*In a few cases expenditure is on an accruals basis.
§ Starting Point
§ 2. The Government's earlier plans for expenditure in 1982–83 set out in the last public expenditure White Paper—Cmnd. 8175—were expressed in "1980 survey prices", that is broadly the prices ruling in the autumn of 1979. To establish a starting point for this year's survey just concluded, those last White Paper plans were revalued to express the plans in cash.
§ 3. For this revaluation a general factor of 9 per cent. was used for the increase in prices other than public services pay between 1981–82 and 1982–83, and for public services pay a factor of 4 per cent. from the next settlement dates. Adjustments were also used to allow for certain changes which do not affect the PSBR, notably additional external finance for the British Gas Corporation to allow for the Gas levy, and for certain minor classification changes. This produced a total of £110 billion, as shown in Table 1.
| Table 1 | ||
| 1981–82 £ billion | 1982–83 £ billion | |
| 1. Cmnd. 8175 at 1980 Survey Prices | *79.5 | 77.9 |
| 2. (1) Revalued to cash | *†104½ | †109½ |
| 3. Adjustments for PSBR—neutral changes | ½ | ½ |
| 4. Starting point for the survey | 105 | 110 |
| * Including Budget changes. | ||
| † Including minor classification changes etc. |
§ 4.It has been decided that the cash to be made available for programmes in 1982–83 should be as shown in table 2.
§ 5. The proposed external financing limits for the nationalised industries in 1982–83 are listed in table 3.
§ Planning Total
§ 6.For programmes which depend on economic assumptions such as the level of unemployment (the main such programmes are marked with a * in Table 2), the revised figures for individual programmes have been constructed on the basis of the economic assumptions used in the last White Paper. New assumptions for the next White Paper will be decided nearer the time of publication, and an appropriate adjustment made to those programmes. The size of the Contingency Reserve and the provision for 256 asset sales will also be determined later. These decisions will determine the exact size of the planning total to be included in the next White Paper.
§ 7. In the meantime a single global allowance has been made for the effects of these adjustments, for the Contingency Reserve, and for asset sales. This results in an estimate of the planning total of about £115 billion.
| Table 2—Public Expenditure Plans, by Department | |||
| 1981–82 | 1982–83 | ||
| While Paper* £m | White Paper* £m | Revised Programme £m | |
| 1. Departments (excluding nationalised industries' external finance):— | |||
| Ministry of Defence | 12,270 | 13,624 | 14,103 |
| Foreign and Commonwealth Office (including Overseas Development Administration) | 1,556 | 1,575 | 1,565 |
| European Community | 460 | 501 | 587 |
| Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce | 530 | 593 | 664 |
| Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food | 962 | 976 | 1,031 |
| Forestry Commission | 59 | 64 | 62 |
| Department of Industry | 1,970 | 1,460 | 1,393 |
| Department of Energy | 354 | 385 | 387 |
| Department of Trade | 287 | 302 | 292 |
| Exports Credits Guarantee Department | 4 | 89 | †115 |
| Department of Employment | 2,320 | 1,911 | 2,688 |
| Department of Transport | 2.880 | 3,036 | 3,166 |
| DOE—Housing | 4,125 | 3,869 | †3,871 |
| DOE—Property Services Agency | 439 | 453 | 444 |
| DOE—Other Environment services | 3,546 | 3,669 | 3,661 |
| Home Office | 3,263 | 3,529 | 3,639 |
| Department of Education and Science | 11,315 | 11,667 | 12,216 |
| Office of Arts and Libraries | 475 | 500 | 532 |
| DHSS—Health | 10,793 | 11,613 | 11,650 |
| DHSS—Personal Social Services | 1,657 | 1,788 | 1,970 |
| DHSS—Social Security | 27,575 | 30,197 | †29,900 |
| Scotland | 5,621 | 5,855 | 5,956 |
| Wales | 2,240 | 2,326 | 2,375 |
| Northern Ireland | 3,223 | 3,419 | 3,510 |
| Other Departments | 2,907 | 3,111 | 3,121 |
| 1981–82 | 1982–83 | ||
| White Paper* £m | White Paper* £m | Revised Programme £m | |
| 2. Nationalised industries' total external finance | 2,924 | 1,470 | 2,770 |
| 3. Total programmes (rounded) | 103,750 | 107,980 | 111,670 |
| 4. Contingency reserve | 2,500 | 2,850 | say ‡3,300 |
| 5. Special sales of assets | -230 | -180 | |
| 6. General allowance for underspend | -1,000 | -700 | |
| 7. Planning total (rounded) | 105,000 | 110,000 | say 115,000 |
| Notes to Table 2 | |||
| *Plans in White Paper (Cmnd. 8175) revalued and adjusted for Budget changes (1981–82 only), certain changes not affecting the PSBR, and minor classification changes. | |||
| † Subject to adjustment for revised economic assumptions. See paragraph 6. | |||
| ‡ To be determined later. For the present includes allowance for effect on programmes of possible revised economic assumptions (see paragraph 6). |
| Table 3—Nationalised Industry External Financing Limits* | |
| 1982–83 Proposed Provision | |
| National Coal Board | 1026 |
| Electricity Supply Industry (England and Wales) | -319 |
| British Gas Corporation | †-2 |
| British National Oil Corporation‡ | -85 |
| British Steel Corporation | ‡350 |
| British Telecom | **340 |
| Post Office and National Girobank | -25 |
| British Shipbuilders | ‡125 |
| British Airways | -9 |
| British Airports Authority | 48 |
| British Railways Board | 950 |
| British Transport Docks Board | -7 |
| National Freight Company Ltd. | =n/a |
| National Bus Company | 71 |
| British Waterways Board | 40 |
| North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board | 47 |
| South of Scotland Electricity Board | 198 |
| Scottish Transport Group | 21 |
| 2770 | |
| Notes to Table 3 | |
| * Included in line 6 of Table 2. | |
| † Estimated effects of gas levy payments on BGCs cash flow of £430 million have been taken into account in setting BC's EFL for 1982–83. | |
| ‡ As in previous years, the figure for BNOC is a forecast and does not represent a limit. | |
| ‡ Provisional: to be determined after consideration of the industry's corporate plan. | |
| ** The Government has indicated that it will increase British Telecom's EFL if agreement is reached on a bond for 1982–83. | |
| = The Government intends to sell all the shares in the National Freight Company Limited during 1981–82, and in view of this no figure for the company has been included. |
§ Following is the Statement by the Secretary of State for Social Services—
§ This statement is pursuant to the statement made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer earlier today on social security and NHS spending.