§ Mr. Peter Walkerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each year since 1945 the proportion of the gross national product produced by nationalised statutory corporations.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesDetails from 1959 are given in the table below. Only very broad estimates are available for earlier years and figures for 1977 are not yet available.
PROPORTION OF GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT PRODUCED BY PUBLIC CORPORATIONS Year Per cent. 1959 8.5 1960 8.7 1961 9.8 1962 10.4 1963 10.4 1964 10.2 1965 10.0 1966 9.9 1967 10.3 1968 10.8 1969 10.5 1970 10.2 1971 10.0 1972 10.1 1973 9.9 1974 10.5 1975 11.1 1976 11.5 The proportions of the gross national product produced by the public corpora- 802W tions are affected by movements of institutions into and out of the sector. In the early post war years the sector expanded very rapidly with the nationalisation of a number of industries and its share of gross national product increased from less than 1 per cent. in 1945 to about 10 per cent. in 1952. The share declined slightly between 1952 and 1960 as a result of the denationalisation of the iron and steel and road haulage undertakings. Since then the following major changes in coverage have affected the figures. In 1961 the Post Office was reclassified as a public corporation. In 1967 the British Steel Corporation was set up. In 1974 the regional water authorities were set up to take over certain responsibilities from local authorities in England and Wales; and public trust ports, such as the Port of London Authority, were reclassified in the national accounts as public corporations.