§ Mr. McKelveyasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what is the total amount of public expenditure approved 253W by the House for the most recent year that figures are available;
(2) if he will express as a percentage how much of the House's approval for the total of public expenditure was granted through (a) Votes on Account, (b) supplementary estimates, (c) main estimates and (d) any other headings, for the most recent year that figures are available.
§ Mr. BiffenAll expenditure which is classified as public expenditure is either approved directly by Parliament authorising supply or incurred under statute. Local authorities and nationalised industries receive a proportion of their finance
Public expenditure element Total Voted £ £ As a percentage of total public expenditure* (a) Votes on Accounts† … … … … 17,945,624,000 26.6 (b) Supplementary Supply Estimates‡ … … 4,540,262,000 2,578,556,345 3.8 (c) Main Supply Estimates§ … … … 42,328,000,000 30,692,000,000 45.4 (d) Excess Votes … … … … … 60,375,250 0.1 Source. * Total public expenditure for 1978–79 (at outturn prices) is £67,549,000,000—from page 155 Financial Statistics, September 1979. † H.C. 30 and 31 (Session 1977–78). ‡H.C. 537 and 538 (Session 1977–78); H.C. 52, 53, 198, 199 and 221 (Session (1978–79) §H. C. 230 (Session 1977–78).