§ Sir L. Lyleasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, for the purposes of establishing the measure of public 811W investment which it is essential to know in connection with the Government White Paper on Employment, he will ascertain what capital expenditure was defrayed by public utility concerns in each year 1931 to 1938 on activities productive of employment at home.
§ Sir J. Andersonpursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 20th June, 1944; Vol. 401, c. 40] supplied the following statement:
A large part of the capital expenditure of public utility undertakings is made by local authorities and was therefore included in the figures given in my answer to my hon. Friend's Question of the 9th June, 1944. Estimates of the net capital expenditure of the main public utility undertakings in the domain of transport and electricity and outside the local authority field have been prepared and are given below. Corresponding figures for gas and water undertakings are not available, but the amounts involved would in any case be relatively small. It is not possible to say how much of this expenditure was directly productive of employment at home and how much represented expenditure on imported goods and land.
Estimated net capital expenditure of main line railways, London Passenger Transport Board, Central Electricity Board and electricity supply companies. (£ millions) 1931 … … … … 34 1932 … … … … 34 1933 … … … … 21 1934 … … … … 17 1935 … … … … 26 1936 … … … … 28 1937 … … … … 29 1938 … … … … 35