§ Mr. Nottasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in the Official Report, on the same date as the publication of the Public Expenditure White Paper, the demand weights, as defined in paragraph 82 of the Handbook on Methodology, which have been assigned to each category of the table showing the domestic use of resources; and in particular whether he will publish the demand weights assigned to subsidies, current grants to persons, net lending and debt interest.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettThe following table gives the information requested:
Demand Weight (per cent.) Direct demands on resources: Public consumption 931 Public investment New fixed investment 931 Land and existing buildings 10 Indirect demands on resources:2 Current grants to the personal Sector 77 Net lending at home 67 Subsidies 66 Debt interest at home 30 Notes:
1 For public consumption and new fixed investment the demand weights are those required to get from market prices to 1970 factor cost.
2 The demand weights shown for the items of indirect public expenditure only include domestic payments. As explained in the notes at the end of public expenditure White Paper, the resource implications of overseas transfers are retained in the balance of trade figures.
§ Mr. Nottasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in the Official Report, on the same day as the publication of the Public Expenditure White Paper, a breakdown of the table in the White Paper showing the growth and use of resources, separating public consumption and public investment (lines B.3a and B.3b in Table 1.1 of Command Paper No. 5879) into central and local government, and separating indirect public expenditure (line B.3d of Command Paper No. 5879) into subsidies, current grants to persons, net lending and debt interest.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettThe table below shows the information requested. The 783W figures are consistent with the aggregates in the White Paper, although the latter have been more heavily rounded.
Demand terms at 1970 factor cost prices 1974 £ million Central Government consumption 5,360 Local authorities consumption 4,170 Central Government investment 510 Local authorities investment 1,470 Other public corporations investment 300 Debt interest paid at home 770 Subsidies 4,170 Current grants to persons 1,340 Net lending at home 450