§ Mr. Lawsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list for every Government Department its total expenditure on subsidies and grants for research institutions and research projects in each of the last five fiscal years with an estimate for the current fiscal year, specifying the recipient and size of the three largest grants made by each Department each year.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettInformation in this detail for all Departments is not held centrally, but the table below gives figures for Treasury expenditure.
1978–79 the April 1977 new earnings survey figure has been updated to give an estimate for August 1978, the latest figure available, and this has been taken to be the average for 1978–79.
§ Mr. Lawsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to the Written Answer on personal incomes given to the hon. Member for Blaby, Official Report, 17th April, column 59, if he will publish a revised table based on latest available information, station the reasons for any changes between the figures published in the original answer and those contained in the reivsed table.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonFollowing are the figures. The basis of the estimates for 1978–79 is explained in the notes.
879W
PERCENTAGE FALL IN REAL NET INCOME SINCE 1973–74 FOR AN EMPLOYEE ON AVERAGE EARNINGS 1977–78 August 1978 Single person 10.9 5.6 Married couple without children 8.5 3.5 Married couple with two children under 11 8.0 1.8 Married couple with four children; two under 11 and two between 11 and 16 8.6 2.0 The figures are on the same basis as the previous answer to the hon. Member—Official Report, 17th April 1978, col. 59—except for the estimates of average earnings and of retail prices in 1978–79. The April 1977 new earnings survey figure has now been updated by the index of average earnings (new series) to August 1978, the latest available figure, and the retail prices index figure for August 1978 has also been used. The figures also take account of the change in the basic rate of income tax from 34 per cent. to 33 per cent., but not of the increase in child benefit payable from November.
Manual workers All occupations Real weekly net income at September 1978 prices Real weekly take-home pay at September 1978 prices Real weekly net income at September 1978 prices Real weekly take-home pay at September 1978 prices £ £ £ £ March 1974 … … 67.0 65.3 72.1 70.4 September 1974 … … 69.1 67.5 74.0 72.4 September 1975 … … 66.2 64.1 71.2 69.1 September 1976 … … 64.9 63.1 70.0 68.1 September 1977 … … 63.2 60.5 67.8 65.1 August 1978* … … 67.4 62.8 72.4 67.8 * The latest month for which figures are available. "Take-home pay" is gross earnings less income tax and National Insurance contributions; "net income" is take-home pay plus family allowance for years up to 1976 and child benefits for 1977 and 1978.
Average earnings are the April new earnings survey estimates of the average earnings of full-time adult male workers and have been updated by the index of average earnings to give estimates for the following September. The April 1977 new earnings survey estimate has been updated by the index to give estimates for August for August 1978. Owing to the three-day week, average earnings figures are not available for February 1974 and therefore March 1974 has been shown.
The price index used is the general index of retail prices—all items, for the appropriate month.
For 1974, and 1978 it has been assumed that the employee was not contracted out of the graduated pension scheme.