HC Deb 06 March 1969 vol 779 cc153-5W
Mr. Alison

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table showing, on the same basis as in his statement on 30th January, 1968, his estimates for public expenditure in the years 1967–68 to 1969–70, inclusive, at 1965 survey prices; if he will give comparable figures for 1964–65; and if he will show for

ESTIMATES OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE, 1964–65 TO 1969–70
£ million, 1965 Survey Prices
1964–65* National Plan Table 18.1 1967–68* Cmnd. 3515 1968–69* Cmnd. 3515 1969–70 National Plan* Table 18.1 1969–70 Cmnd. 3515* 1969–70 Cmnd. 3936 Table 2
Defence Budget 2,071 2,020 1,973 2,075 1,949 1,879
Roads 403 508 524 569 552 509
Public Housing Investment 508 639 661 676 646 662
Housing Subsidies, etc. 153 208 245 257 266 286
Education (with school meals and milk) 1,458 1,740 1,806 1,923 1,876 1,900
Health and Welfare (with welfare foods) 1,236 1,418 1,439 1,528 1,494 1,483
Benefits and Assistance (with family allowances) 2,120 2,719 2,903 2,920 2,922 3,060
Total 7,949 9,252 9,551 9,948 9,705 9,779
Other (excluding S.E.T. additional payments, R.E.P. and investment grants) 2,851 3,489 3,706† 3,347 3,678† 3,611
Total 10,800 12,741 13,257 13,295 13,383 13,390
S.E.T. additional payments, R.E.P. and investment grants 359 516 511 522
Grand Total 10,800 13,100 13,773† 13,295 13,894† 13,912
* Functional totals differ from those given in the National Plan Public Expenditure: Planning and Control (Cmnd. 3515) and in the statement of 30th January, 1968 because sales of fixed assets have now been allocated to functions.
† These totals correspond to those given in Cmnd. 3515 plus £31 million for the estimated cost of the 1968 Farm Price Review as given in the Financial Statement, 1968–69 (H.C. 151).

each of these years other main items of public expenditure as defined in the Treasury Analysis in National Incomes and Expenditure 1968;

(2) if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table comparing on any convenient constant price basis his present estimates for the main public expenditure programmes in 1969–70 with those given in Command Paper No. 3515 and in Table 18.1 of the National Plan.

Mr. Diamond

The table beneath gives estimates of public expenditure for 1964–65, 1967–68 and 1968–69 on the same basis as in my right hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Member for Belfast, North on 30th January, 1968, together with successive estimates for 1969–70 published in Table 18.1 of the National Plan, Command Paper No. 3515 and Table 2 of Command Paper No. 3936. Further items of expenditure for 1964–65 were distinguished in Table I of Appendix II of "Public Expenditure: Planning and Control" (Cmnd. 3915). A functional analysis of the estimate for 1967–68 at 1967 Survey Prices was published in Command Paper No. 3515 and of the estimates for 1968–69 and 1969–70 at 1969–70 Estimates prices in Command Paper No. 3936.—[Vol. 757, c. 269–70.]

Mr. Alison

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT details of the annual increase in public expenditure at constant prices between 1959–60 and 1966–67, showing the percentage increases between each year, and of the percentage increases for each of the three succeeding years, the monetary totals for the years 1959–60 to 1969–70, and the monetary totals of this expenditure for these same years at current or latest survey prices.

Mr. Diamond

The average annual percentage increase in public expenditure at constant prices from 1959–60 to 1966–67 was 4½ per cent. The year-to-year percentage increases over the period 1959–60–1969–70 are as follows:

Percentage Increase
1960–61 on 1959–60 4
1961–62 on 1960–61
1962–63 on 1961–62
1963–64 on 1962–63
1964–65 on 1963–64
1965–66 on 1964–65
1966–67 on 1965–66 4
1967–68 on 1966–67 7
1968–69 on 1967–68 4
1969–70 on 1968–69 (estimate to estimate) 1

These calculations exclude capital expenditure of the nationalised industries, the broadcasting authorities and the Covent Garden Market Authority, and debt interest, and, to provide comparability over this run of years, additional payments under the selective employment tax system introduced in 1966 and investment grants and the regional employment premium introduced in 1967.

Totals of public expenditure at outturn prices for 1959–60 to 1967–68 are given in the Treasury Analysis of Public Expenditure in "National Income and Expenditure, 1968". Estimated outturn at outturn prices for 1968–69 is shown in Table 1 of Cmnd. 3936, and an estimate for 1969–70 at 1969–70 Estimates prices is given in Table 2 of the same White Paper.