§ Mr. Bakerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his latest assessment of the degree of underspending in 1977–78 diverges from the estimates in Command Paper No. 7049, and by how much in the case of total public expenditure including contingency reserve and debt interest, expenditure on programmes, expenditure on goods and services and transfer payments; and whether he will publish the information at both current and constant prices.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettMy right hon. Friend's latest assessment will be incorporated in his Budget Statement.
§ Mr. David Atkinsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage increases have occurred in public expenditure since 1960 on education, health, housing, social services and local govern- 529W ment in (a) monetary terms and (b) real terms.
§ Mr. Joel Barnett, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 3rd March 1978] gave the following answer:
The information readily available is as follows:
PERCENTAGE INCREASES IN GENERAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE* BETWEEN 1960 AND 1976 In monetary terms In real terms† Education 735 115 Health 630 70 Housing 920 195 Other social services 690 135 Other local governmen services‡ 775 140 Total above services 725 125 * Excluding debt interest and capital consumption. † Rough estimates, using constant price figures of expenditure on goods and services, and revaluing transfer payments by the implied deflator for gross domestic product at market prices. ‡ Services transferred from local authorities to public corporations in 1974, principally water supply in England and Wales, are excluded. Source: National accounts estimates.