§ Mr. JackTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what definition he uses to determine whether an item of public expenditure is defined as(a) Government spending and (b) Government investment. [148832]
§ Mr. Andrew Smith[holding answer 6 February 2001]: The Treasury uses a definition of aggregate public expenditure and investment derived from the national accounts produced by the Office for National Statistics. An explanation of the definitions and concepts can be found in the introduction to chapter 1 of Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2000–01 (Cm 4601).