§ Mr. Michael Brownasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the total of public debt in Northern Ireland for rent, rates, gas and electricity; and by what amount this debt has either increased or decreased since May 1979.
§ Mr. John Patten:Details of the public debt at 31 March 1979 and 30 June 1981 are as follows:
Rent 8.7 13.9 +5.2 Rates 3.9 5.0* +1.1 Gas 3.7 3.6 -0.1 Electricity 12.0 13.2 +1.2 Total 28.3 35.7 +7.4 * The rate debts figures are not wholly comparable because those for June 1981 do not include any debt arising in the current financial year. This will not have been assessed until 31 March 1982. Accordingly, the debt figure at 31 March 1981 has been included in the table above.