§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) pursuant to the answer on Wednesday 9 May to the hon. Member for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, which schemes already submitted to the Commission of the European Communities to be financed by the rebate to the United Kingdom are now delayed in their progress; what action the Government are taking in relation to these delays; and if he will estimate what consequences they will have in terms of local consent, public expenditure targets or any other aspect of the Government's financial arrangements;
(2) why he will not publish the provisional list of projects submitted to the European Community to be financed by the rebate due to the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Ian Stewart[pursuant to his reply, 21 May 1984, c. 308]: Until the regulations are adopted by the Council we cannot be certain what projects, programmes or measures will be eligible for financial support under the agreement to grant the United Kingdom a refund on our contribution to the 1983 Community Budget. It would therefore be misleading to publish now a list of possible schemes.
No public expenditure schemes have been delayed so far because of the blocking of our 1983 refunds.
When payment of the refund is made in the current financial year total public expenditure will be reduced by some £570 million. It is not possible to quantify the implicit interest and other costs of the delayed receipt of the bulk of the refunds because the precise effects on the PSBR depend on the balance of transactions involving the Commission's account held with the Paymaster-General.