§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the coverage of the social protection expenditure in table 126 of Eurostat "Basic Statistics of the Community 1979", why the United Kingdom figure as a percentage of gross domestic product is much lower than in other European Economic Community countries; why the increase in relation to gross domestic product between 1970 and 1976 has been smaller in the case of the United Kingdom than in other European Economic Community countries; and what is his estimate of the United Kingdom percentage figures for 1977, 1978 and 1979.
§ Mr. LawsonThe social protection accounts as defined by the EEC cover the provision, through a third party, of cash benefits and services, including the associated administrative costs, to meet the needs of individuals arising from sickness, old age, invalidity, disability, employment injury, unemployment, family liabilities, natural disasters and war, as52W quoted in the Eurostat publication to which the hon. Member refers.
For the United Kingdom, this includes national insurance contributions, social security benefits, supplementary benefit, child benefit, the National Health Service, community and personal social services, redundancy pay, employers' sick pay, superannuation, employment services, rehabilitation, welfare foods, school meals and milk, legal aid and criminal injury compensation. It excludes capital expenditure on education and housing.
The differences between countries in the percentages of gross domestic product which are allocated to social protection expenditure, and changes in those percentages, reflect a complex set of factors, such as the level and method of financing public expenditure, methods of distributing social benefits, and demographic factors.
The United Kingdom expenditures on social protection as defined above, as a percentage of GDP at market prices in 1976–77, 1977–78 and 1978–79 were 19.6 per cent., 19.5 per cent. and 20.1 per cent. respectively.