HC Deb 22 December 1976 vol 923 cc223-4W
Mr. Wigley

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of each major category of public expenditure is unidentified.

Mr. Joel Barnett

Identifiable public expenditure is defined as expenditure which can be identified from official records as having been incurred in a particular country, but excluding expenditures on defence and overseas services which are undertaken for the United Kingdom as a whole. The figures given below are the percentages of total public expenditure in 1975–76, as published in National Income and Expenditure 1965–75, which is not identifiable public expenditure. The major categories correspond to those in Command Paper No. 6393. The figure for Northern Ireland, therefore, relates to the Northern Ireland programme and not to expenditure in Northern Ireland.

UNITED KINGDOM PUBLIC EXPENDITURE NOT ALLOCATED TO COUNTRIES, PER HEAD
Programme 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76*
£ £ £
Defence 63 74 95
Overseas aid 11 13 13
Agriculture, fisheries and forestry 2 1 0
Trade, industry and employment 9 26 20
Nationalised industries capital expenditure 6 11 11
Roads and transport 26 9
Housing 2 0 1
Other environmental services 7 3 3
Law, order and protective services 1 2 3
Education and libraries, science and arts 4 4 5
Health and personal social services 2 2 2
Social security 1 2 1
Other public services 0 1 2
Common services 3 4 6
Northern Ireland 0 0 0
Debt interest 58 72 86
Total 171 221 256

Figures may not add to total because each item is rounded separately.

* Provisional.

PROGRAMME AND PROPORTION OF TOTAL PUBLIC EXPENDITURE IN 1975–76 NOT ALLOCATED TO A PARTICULAR COUNTRY
Per cent.
Defence 100
Overseas services 100
Agriculture, fisheries and forestry 1
Trade, industry and employment 39
Nationalised industries capital expenditure. 15
Roads and transport 20
Housing 1
Other environmental services 6
Law, order and protective services 9
Education and libraries, science and arts. 4
Health and personal social services 1
Social security
Other public services 13
Common services 41
Northern Ireland
Debt interest 100
Total 25

Mr. Wigley

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total unidentifiable public expenditure per capita by programme in Great Britain during each of the last three years.

Mr. Joel Barnett

The table below gives the element of total public expenditure in 1973–74 to 1975–76 in the United Kingdom, as published in National Income and Expenditure 1965–75, which is not identifiable from public records to any particular country, expressed per head of the United Kingdom home population. Equivalent figures are not available for Great Britain. The categories correspond to those in Cmnd. Paper No. 6393. The figure for Northern Ireland, therefore, relates to the Northern Ireland programme and not to expenditure in Northern Ireland.