§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if the Government adhere to the national accounts definitions of capital and current expenditure except in respect of the treatment of depreciation; [26135]
(2) what the Treasury definition of capital expenditure is for the purposes of the golden rule. [26099]
§ Mr. Andrew SmithThe Government's fiscal rules are defined in terms of statistics from national accounts. Performance against the golden rule is measured against the surplus on the current budget which is equal to public sector current receipts less public sector current expenditure including depreciation, all as measured in national accounts. Total managed expenditure (TME)—the Government's measure of total public expenditure—is public sector current expenditure plus capital expenditure as recorded in national accounts.
At present for national accounts, ONS estimate depreciation for the whole of Government using an economic model. As part of the introduction of resource accounting, each central Government Department now calculates its own depreciation directly. ONS plan to start using this new data source for most of central Government in national accounts later this year.