§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of gross national product were representing(a) gross United Kingdom contributions to the European Community, (b) direct expenditure by Government Departments, (c) expenditure by executive next steps agencies, or other self-accounting units within the public sector and (d) Her Majesty's Government grants to local authorities, at the latest available date; and on what value of gross national product these proportions are calculated.
§ Mr. AitkenThe table shows figures for expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product for the financial year 1993–94, the latest year for which final outturn figures are available.
Percentage of GDP Gross EC contributions 1.3 Central government's own expenditure1 28.4 Central government grants to local authorities2 8.8 Notes:
1Government Departments' and other central Government bodies' expenditure within the control total excluding net EC contributions and including cyclical social security.
2Excludes credit approvals.
The figures are based on a gross domestic product figure of £630 billion. It is the Government's usual practice to use gross domestic product in preference to gross national product when comparing Government expenditure aggregates with total economy expenditure.
Separate information on the expenditure by next steps executive agencies is available in individual Departments' annual departmental reports. Information on the expenditure of non-departmental public bodies can be found in the Cabinet Office publication "Public Bodies".