§ Lord BLEASEasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will give details for 1979–80 of the subvention to Northern Ireland, including the grant in aid under the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973, the cost of the Northern Ireland Office, the payments from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the payments from the Lord Chancellor's Department, the payments from the Property Services Agency, the contribution from the Great Britain National Insurance fund; the refund of VAT, the extra cost attributable to the Army's 249WA task in Northern Ireland, amounts received by the United Kingdom Government from the European Social Fund; receipts from the European Regional Development Fund as regards Northern Ireland, an estimate of the receipts due to Northern Ireland from the Community Budget under the EAGGF Guarantee Fund, the EAGGF Guidance Fund and refund of own resources collection costs; and an overall estimate of the net subvention to Northern Ireland, from the rest of the United Kingdom after allowing for EEC payments and receipts.
§ Lord COCKFIELDThe provisional outturn for the subvention from the United Kingdom to Northern Ireland for 1979–80 is made up as follows:
£ millions Grant in Aid under the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 … … 590 Expenditure by the Northern Ireland Office … … … … 245 Expenditure by the Northern Ireland Courts Service … … … … 4 Expenditure by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food … … 36 Contribution from the Great Britain National Insurance Fund … … 69 Refund of VAT … … … 12 Total … … … 956 The extra costs attributable to the Army's task in Northern Ireland was £97 millions. All significant expenditure by the Property Services Agency is included in these figures.
In addition, Northern Ireland departments received £15 million from the European Social Fund, and £8 million from the European Regional Development Fund. The European Regional Development Fund also paid £8 million of interest on loans raised by the Northern Ireland electricity service from the European Investment Bank. There were also receipts of £3 million from the guidance section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund some of which was paid to the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture and some went to pay for expenditure by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in Northern Ireland.
Information on receipts flowing to Northern Ireland from the guarantee 250WA section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund is not recorded on a regional basis.
The Northern Ireland shares of the United Kingdom contribution to the European Communities and the refund of the own resources collection cost are taken into account in calculating the Northern Ireland attributed share of taxes.