§ Mr. George Gardinerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list, for every year since 1970, total Government revenues accruing from North Sea oil and gas exploitation, broken down into individual categories.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettFollowing are the figures; receipts of:
allowable as debuction againts income for the purposes of income tax
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 7 February 1979], gave the following reply:
According to the information available to us the answer is as follows:
343W
- (a) Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands;
- (b) Denmark and Luxembourg.
§ Mr. Lawsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will express the payments made by the United Kingdom in 1978 for the overall financing of the European Community's budget as a percentage of the sum which would have been paid if financing had been on the basis of gross national product; and if he will give his estimate of the comparable figure for 1979.
§ Mr. Joel Barnett, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 7 February 1979], gave tile following reply:
The United Kingdom's gross contributions to the 1978 Community budget, after allowing for our refunds under article 131 of the Treaty of Accession, amounted to 1,844 MEUA. This represents 97.8 per cent. of the amount which the United Kingdom would have paid if
Billion EUA EEC United Kingdom Germany France Italy 1977 … 1,384.3 213.8 452.6 333.6 171.8 1978 … 1,526.6 239.5 500.6 368.6 185.3 1979 … 1,683.8 263.1 549.6 415.6 207.6
Billion EUA Netherlands Belgium Luxembourg Ireland Denmark 1977 … 93.3 68.3 2.4 8.2 40.3 1978 … 101.7 74.6 2.7 9.5 43.2 1979 … 110.7 81.1 2.9 10.8 46.9 Figures for 1977 are taken from the November 1978, No. 1 edition of European Economy, statistical annex table 2. The figures for 1978 for countries other than the United Kingdom are derived by taking OECD estimates of nominal GNP in domestic currency which are converted to EUAs using 1978 exchange rates. The forecasts for 1979 again use OECD forecasts for nominal GNP in domestic currency, and these are converted to EUAs using the December 1978 exchange rates. This procedure is consistent with the OECD assumption of constant exchange rates throughout the forecast period. In the case of the United Kingdom the Industry Act forecast published in November has been used. The EUA exchange rates are taken from European Economy, supplement A, No. 1, January 1979.
§ Mr. John Mooreasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will recalculate table 5.13—central Government accounts 344W contributions had been based on its estimated share of Community gross national product in 1978. The comparable figure for 1979, estimated at a little over 110 per cent., reflects the phasing-out of the transitional arrangements which have applied to the budgetary contributions of the new member States.
§ Mr. Lawsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table giving estimates of gross national product for both the United Kingdom and the EEC in 1978 and forecasts of the comparable figures for 1979, in terms of European units of account in each case.
§ Mr. Joel Barnett,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 7 February 1979], gave the following information:
The information is as follows
and PSBR—of Command Paper 7439 on (a) the assumptions used in illustrative case A in Command Paper No. 7439 and (b) the assumptions used in illustrative case B in Command Paper No. 7439;
(2) if he will publish in the Official Report a recalculation of table 7 of Command Paper No. 7439 in terms of current prices under (a) case A illustrative assumptions, (b) case B illustrative assumptions, (c) case C illustrative assumptions, (d) an assumption of a 15 per cent. increase in average earnings and (e) an assumption of a 20 per cent. increase in average earnings;
(3) if he will publish in the Official Report a recalculation of table 7 of Command Paper No. 7439 "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1979–80 to 1982–83" on the assumptions used for illustrative case A and illustrative case C in this publication.
345W
§ Mr. Joel Barnett, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 6 February 1979; Vol. 962, c. 147–9], gave the following information:
The Government had recently provided a considerable amount of quantitative material on economic prospects in the short and medium term. The Industry Act forecast covered the short term and the section on the economic context in the public expenditure White Paper covered the medium term. In his speech to the House of Commons on 25 January my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer gave very rough calculations of the implications for public expenditure and the PSBR in 1979–80 if, as we hope will not be the case, average earnings rose by 15 per cent. It would not now be helpful to elaborate further the quantitative projections already given.
Some of the figures that the hon. Member requests, however, are available. The calculations in table 7 of the White Paper which assume case B, are consistent with the last Industry Act forecast for 1979–80. The forecast for the PSBR of £7.2 billion at 1977–78 prices, which appeared in table 7 of the White Paper, implies, on these assumptions, £8.5 billion at current prices, as in the Industry Act forecast. The calculations in table 5.13 in the public expenditure White Paper which the hon. Member wants calculated on the assumptions in case B were actually calculated on that basis.
§ Mr. John Mooreasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish a table showing public expenditure as defined in Command Paper No. 7439 as a percentage of (a) gross domestic product at factor cost, (b) gross domestic product at market prices, and (c) gross national product, from the earliest available year to 1978, giving estimated figures if final figures are not yet available.
§ Mr. Joel Barnett, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 6 February 1979; Vol. 962, c. 147–9], gave the following reply:
Figures of public expenditure as defined in Cmnd. 7439 as a percentage of gross domestic product at market prices are shown in table 3 of Cmnd. 7439 for the years 1972–73 to 1978–79. Estimates as a percentage of gross domestic product at 346W factor cost and gross national product are shown in the table below.
PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AS DEFINED IN CMND. 7439 Public expenditure as a percentage of: Gross domestic product at factor cost Gross national product at market prices 1972–73 … 44½ 38½ 1973–74 … 46 40 1974–75 … 51 45 1975–76 … 51½ 46 1976–77 … 49½ 43½ 1977–78 … 46½ 40½ 1978–79* … 48 42 * Estimated.