§ Mr. Wyn Robertsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will break down and itemise the per capita public expenditure figures for England, Scotland and Wales published in the Official Report on 12th November.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettThe information is below. This year's analysis of information from Departments is now completed;the figures for 1974–75 are final and those for 1975–76 are also revised, as compared with those I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Bedwellty (Mr. Kinnock) on 12th November.—[Vol. 919, c.292–3.] —The figures for these two years include capital expenditure by British Steel Corporation and are not strictly comparable with those for 1973–74 and earlier years for which this information is not available. I regret that attention was not drawn to this point in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Bedwellty, or in my hon. Friend's reply on 22nd November to the hon. Member for Eastleigh (Mr. Price).—[Vol. 919, c. 892.] In 1974–75, capital expenditure by British Steel Corporation per head of the population was £4 in England, £7 in Scotland and £20 in Wales.
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IDENTIFIABLE PUBLIC EXPENDITURE PER HEAD BY PROGRAMME 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76‡ Programme England Scotland Wales England Scotland Wales England Scotland Wales £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ Agriculture, fisheries and forestry … … 6 19 12 19 36 31 24 38 32 Trade, industry and employment … … 30 39 33 19 47 36 26 73 49 Roads and transport … … 24 29 28 30 35 32 38 47 44 Housing … … 42 63 32 78 92 68 81 105 72 Other environmental services … … 27 31 35 33 42 37 45 56 47 Law, order and protective services … … 18 17 14 22 22 18 29 29 24 Education, libraries, science and arts … … 78 95 82 103 121 106 128 155 134 Health and personal social services … … 63 74 64 85 100 86 111 134 116 Social security … … 99 102 115 125 126 141 173 173 193 Other public services … … 8 8 10 9 10 13 12 13 22 Common services … … 6 4 5 6 5 4 9 7 6 Total excluding nationalised industries* … … 402 481 431 528 636 572 678 829 739 Nationalised industries' capital expenditure … … 29† 36† 21† 40 63 50 54 99 87 Total including nationalised industries* … … 431† 517† 452† 568 699 622 732 929 826 * Figures may not add to total because each element is rounded independently. † Excluding capital expenditure by the British Steel Corporation. ‡ Provisional.
§ Mr. Lawsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out, for each block of expenditure subject to cash limits, the increase in expenditure in real terms and current prices between 1974–75 and 1975–76, the increased financial provision in current prices between 1975–76 and 1976–77 and his latest estimate of the increase in costs between those two years.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettI regret that this exercise would require an excessive expenditure of official resources.