§ Mr. Staintonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to ensure that the European Community budget rebate of £500 million will not be exclusively earmarked for projects already approved by Her Majesty's Government and that sums are made available to areas such as East Anglia which do not qualify for regional development assistance.
§ Mr. RidleyThe Government's existing public expenditure plans were drawn up on the assumption that the United Kingdom would receive substantial budget refunds from the Community. The payment to which my hon. Friend refers will not, therefore, open the way to increases in expenditure beyond the levels already planned. The refunds benefit all parts of the United Kingdom by enabling public expenditure programmes generally to be maintained at higher levels than would otherwise be possible.
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§ Sir Anthony Meyerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the total sums received under the 30 May 1980 agreement from the European Community in respect of 1980–81 and 1981–82; and to which purposes and which regions these sums have been committed.
§ Mr. RidleyThe United Kingdom's refunds in respect of the 1980 and 1981 budgets were received in the form
Supplementary Measures Receipts in respect of 1980 and 1981 Budget Refund Entitlement £ million Roads Rail Electricity Water and sewerage Advance Factories Land reclamation Telecommunications Housing Total North 1980 16.8 9.6 — 20.1 — — 33.6 — 80.2 1981 9.7 7.9 21.4 14.0 — — 30.8 — 83.8 Northwest 1980 27.3 17.0 — 24.6 0.9 — 64.5 — 134.3 1981 25.0 12.8 63.3 30.1 — — 67.8 — 199.1 Southwest 1980 — 3.7 — 5.3 — — 13.8 — 22.8 1981 0.2 1.7 2.3 6.2 — — 13.5 — 23.9 Yorkshire and Humberside 1980 9.5 19.8 — 22.7 — — 69.3 — 121.3 1981 9.6 14.4 50.5 25.6 — — 56.0 — 156.1 Scotland 1980 37.0 24.4 — — 7.2 3.6 56.4 — 128.6 1981 29.3 16.2 72.8 — — 2.8 61.0 — 182.0 Wales 1980 41.2 7.1 — 9.2 12.4 — 47.8 — 117.7 1981 35.3 3.5 16.4 12.6 — — 34.9 — 102.7 Northern Ireland 1980 25.6 1.2 — 10.9 2.5 0.2 33.0 17.8 91.2 1981 14.7 2.1 — 12.6 — 0.2 31.6 56.0 117.3 Trunk Roads 1980 103.0 — — — — — — — 103.0 1981 146.1 — — — — — — — 146.1 Total 1980 260.4 82.8 — 92.8 23.0 3.8 318.4 17.8 799.0 1981 270.0 58.5 226.6 101.2 — 3.0 295.6 56.0 1,011.0