§ Mr. Biggs-Davisonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish figures to show which regions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are in receipt of subsidies and aid in excess of their contribution to the public revenues; and to what extent.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettUnless the administrative arrangements within a region are separate from those in the rest of the country—as is largely the case in Northern Ireland—there are serious difficulties in attributing direct and indirect tax receipts to regions in the United Kingdom. In many cases the burden is not borne in the region in which the tax is collected and any attribution must therefore be of uncertain validity. Some subsidies present similar problems in so far as their benefit may be divided between producers in one region and consumers in others. I do not propose therefore to publish estimates of this nature.