§ Mr. Tim SmithTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the reasons for the accounting adjustments of £9.5 billion, £10.7 billion, £12.5 billion and £12.7 billion in public spending for 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97 and 1997–98 shown in table 1.5 the "Financial Statement and Budget Report" 1995–96.
§ Mr. AitkenThe accounting adjustments include various items within general Government expenditure but outside the control total—other than central Government debt interest and cyclical social security, which are shown separately. The larger items are non-trading capital consumption, refunds of VAT, teachers' and NHS pensions increase payments, the difference between civil service and armed forces pensions payments and accruing superannuation liability charges, the element of NHS trusts' charges to health authorities which goes to remunerate debt to the Exchequer, and the spending of the proceeds of the national lottery.
The net market and overseas borrowing of nationalised industries and other public corporations is, on the other hand, in the control total but outside GGE such that net repayments add to the magnitude of the accounting adjustments. Debt interest paid from local authorities to central Government reduces the accounting adjustments. This is removed to avoid double counting between local government debt interest payments—which are shown inside local authority expenditure—and central Government debt interest. Fuller details of the national accounting adjustments will appear in the statistical supplement to the "Financial Statement and Budget Report", along the lines of appendix B of last year's supplement—Cm 2519.