§ Mr. Gwynfor Evansasked the Secretary of State for Wales what was the public spending per head in Wales from 1969–70 to 1974–75, taking 100 as the index for all Great Britain, on: (a) agriculture, fisheries and forestry, (b) trade, industry and employment, (c) nationalised 760W industries (capital expenditure), (d) road transport, (e) housing, (f) other environmental services, (g) law and order, (h) education, libraries, science and arts, (i) health and personal social services, and (j) social security.
§ Mr. John MorrisGeographical comparisons of public expenditure can be misleading because of the difficulties of definition involved. The figures below are derived from material previously published in theOfficial Report, and relate only to those expenditure clearly identified from official records as made in Wales. The analyses exclude a number of important elements of direct benefit to Wales (for example, most subsidies to the nationalised industries, agricultural price guarantees and capital spending by the British Steel Corporation). These omissions, and the variant patterns of need and structure as between Wales and Great Britain imply that the figures must be interpreted with due regard to their deficiences. Comparable figures for Great Britain are only available for the years 1973–74 and 1974–75; consequently indices for earlier years cannot be calculated.
PUBLIC EXPENDITURE PER HEAD IN WALES (Great Britain average = 100) 1973–74 1974–75 Agriculture, fisheries and forestry 155 130 Trade, industry and employment 136 152 Nationalised industries' capital expenditure (excluding steel) 75 63 Roads and transport 113 102 Housing 73 86 Other environmental services 124 109 Law and order 82 79 Education, libraries, science and arts 103 101 Health and personal social services 100 100 Social security 114 119