§ Mr. Churchillasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of total Government expenditure has been devoted to defence, education, health and social security, respectively, at five-year intervals from 1950–51 to date, including the planned outturn for 1980–81.
§ Mr. Biffen[pursuant to his reply, 27 November 1980]: The table below gives expenditure on the service specified as a percentage of total expenditure by central Government and local authorities. Data for earlier years, from published national income and expenditure accounts, is available only on a calendar year basis. For 1975–76 and 1980–81 the percentages are derived from the estimates published in "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1980–81 to 1983–84"—Cmnd. 7841. Due to changes in coverage and definition, the percentages shown for 1965 and earlier may not be entirely consistent with those for the later years.
Defence Education* National Health Service Social Security 1950 21.9 8.7 11.7 16.9 1955 27.4 9.4 10.2 17.8 1960 20.9 11.3 10.9 19.2 1965 17.9 13.5 10.6 20.4 1970 13.3 13.6 10.7 21.1 1975–76 11.2 13.4 10.5 22.1 1980–81 11.6 12.8 11.4 28.0 * Excludes expenditure on arts and libraries.