§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what working assumptions of unemployment levels for 1981–82, 1982–83 and 1983–84, on the basis used in paragraph 2.12 of Cmnd. 8175, he is making for the purposes of expenditure projection.
§ Mr. BrittanFor the calculation of revised national insurance contributions, the Government Actuary has been instructed to use new assumptions about unemployment in 1981–82 and 1982–83. These are shown in paragraph 10 of the Government Actuary's report on the financial provisions of the Social Security (Contributions) Bill 1981,—Cmnd 8443—published on 3 December.
The statement on public expenditure circulated in theOfficial Report for 2 December explained that the expenditure projections of individual programmes for 1981–82 and 1982–83 were constructed on the basis of the economic assumptions used in Cmnd. 8175. For 1982–83 allowance for the effect on programmes of possible revised economic assumptions is included in the planning total. The working assumption of the level of unemployment in 1983–84 has not been revised since Cmnd. 8175. New assumptions of the next White Paper will be decided nearer the time of publication.