HC Deb 25 November 1977 vol 939 cc956-62W
Mr. Carmichael

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish details of his estimate of the following in relation to the Scottish and Welsh Assemblies: (a) devolved public expenditure and (b) identifiable public expenditure, in similar form to Tables 1 and 2 of Command Paper No. 6890 for financial years 1971–2, 1974–5, 1976–77, for Scotland and Wales, and for England, Northern Ireland and the English regions.

Mr. Robert Sheldon

I regret that the only information at present available is shown in the tables below:

IDENTIFIABLE PUBLIC EXPENDITURE
1974–75
England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland
£m. As percentage of United Kingdom £m. As percentage of United Kingdom £m. As percentage of United Kingdom £m. As percentage of United Kingdom United Kingdom
Agriculture, fisheries, food and forestry 898 70.5 190 14.9 86 6.7 101 7.9 1,274
Trade, industry and employment 904 64.3 249 17.7 106 7.5 147 10.5 1,405
Government lending to nationalised industries 518 76.8 78 11.5 18 2.7 61 9.0 675
Roads and transport 1,539 81.1 210 11.1 95 5.0 53 2.8 1,898
Housing 3,612 82.7 480 11.0 187 4.3 86 2.0 4,365
Other environmental services 1,513 80.3 221 11.7 103 5.5 48 2.5 1,885
Law, order and protective services 1,005 78.4 114 8.9 50 3.9 114 8.8 1,282
Education and libraries, science and arts 4,767 81.4 632 10.8 292 5.00 166 2.8 5,857
Health and personal social services 3,937 81.4 522 10.8 237 4.9 147 3.0 4,843
Social security 5,820 82.1 660 9.3 389 5.5 219 3.1 7,087
Other public services 412 79.9 51 9.8 35 6.8 18 3.5 515
Common services 288 85.1 24 7.1 11 3.2 16 4.6 339
Total identifiable public expenditure 25,212 80.2 3,431 10.9 1,607 5.1 1,175 3.7 31,424
Population estimates (millions) 46.444 83.0 5.217 9.3 2.757 4.9 1.547 2.8 55.965

IDENTIFIABLE PUBLIC EXPENDITURE
1975–76
England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland
£m. As percentage of United Kingdom £m. As percentage of United Kingdom £m. As percentage of United Kingdom £m. As percentage of United Kingdom United Kingdom
Agriculture, fisheries, food and forestry 1,060 73.1 202 14.0 85 5.8 103 7.1 1,450
Trade, industry and employment 1,152 61.3 385 20.5 143 7.6 198 10.6 1,879
Government lending to nationalised industries 553 73.4 63 8.3 100 13.2 38 5.1 754
Roads and transport 1,814 79.8 266 11.7 124 5.4 70 3.1 2,273
Housing 3,640 81.0 545 12.1 194 4.3 115 2.6 4,494
Other environmental services 2,073 79.7 327 12.6 128 4.9 73 2.8 2,602
Law, order and protective services 1,334 78.2 152 8.9 69 4.0 151 8.9 1,705
Education and libraries, science and arts 6,034 81.0 816 10.9 372 5.0 228 3.1 7,451
Health and personal social services 5,225 80.9 707 11.0 320 4.9 206 3.2 6,458
Social Security 7,951 82.4 892 9.2 522 5.4 289 3.0 9,655
Other public services 589 78.2 68 9.1 74 9.8 22 2.9 752
Common services 409 86.1 35 7.3 16 3.4 15 3.2 475
Total identifiable public expenditure 31,833 79.6 4,458 11.2 2,146 5.4 1,511 3.8 39,948
Population estimates (millions) 46.435 83.0 5.206 9.3 2.764 4.9 1.537 2.8 55.943

IDENTIFIABLE PUBLIC EXPENDITURE
1976–77
England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland
£m. As percentage of United Kingdom £m. As percentage of United Kingdom £m. As percentage of United Kingdom £m. As percentage of United Kingdom United Kingdom
Agriculture, fisheries, food and forestry 698 64.2 200 18.4 80 7.3 109 10.0 1,087
Trade, industry and employment 1,395 63.4 445 20.2 181 8.2 178 8.1 2,199
Government lending to nationalised industries -132 1 85 51 6
Roads and transport 1,934 79.1 288 11.8 144 5.9 78 3.2 2,444
Housing 4,016 80.4 588 11.8 213 4.3 176 3.5 4,993
Other environmental services 2,177 79.8 346 12.7 130 4.8 75 2.7 2,727
Law, order and protective services 1,546 78.5 172 8.7 80 4.1 171 8.7 1,969
Education and libraries, science and arts 6,908 81.3 914 10.8 420 4.9 259 3.0 8,501
Health and personal social services 5,971 80.9 807 10.9 363 4.9 240 3.3 7,381
Social security 9,397 82.2 1,059 9.3 624 5.5 349 3.0 11,429
Other public services 628 77.6 77 9.6 80 9.8 24 3.0 809
Common services 455 86.1 38 7.1 20 3.8 16 3.0 529
Total identifiable public expenditure 34,993 79.4 4,935 11.2 2,420 5.5 1,726 3.9 44,074
Population estimates (millions) 46.418 83.0 5.206 9.3 2.767 4.9 1.538 2.8 55.928

Identifiable public expenditure is expenditure which can be identified from official records as having been incurred in a particular country, excluding debt interest and expenditure on defence and overseas services which is incurred on behalf of the United Kingdom as a whole. The extent to which expenditure can be identified varies between countries and different years. The coverage of the figures, therefore, may vary even when similar services are being provided. The figures are at current prices.

The figures for 1975–76 supersede those given in Table 2 of Command No. 6890.

The figures for 1976–77 are provisional.

It is not meaningful to express the figures for Government lending to nationalised industries in 1976–77 as a percentage of similar United Kingdom expenditure.

The figures are rounded separately and in certain cases do not add to the totals.