§ Mr. Marlowasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what have been the monthly cash flows between the United Kingdom and the Commission of the European Communities since 1 January 1979; and what are the predictions until 1 April 1981.
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§ Mr. Lawson[pursuant to his reply, 30 October 1980, c. 352]: Details of the United Kingdom's monthly gross contributions and public sector receipts from the budget of the European Communities from 1979 to date are:
Payments Receipts £million Net payment 1979— January 159.8 55.5 104.3 February 35.1 49.1 −14.0 March 158.3 27.0 131.3 April 140.1 30.2 109.9 May 84.1 71.6 12.5 June 159.0 48.3 110.7 July 165.1 52.4 112.6 August 168.9 66.1 102.8 September 90.2 55.8 34.4 October 167.1 80.1 87.0 November 52.3 55.2 −2.9 December 226.6 56.6 170.0 1980— January 176.6 121.2 55.4 February 156.0 66.0 89.8 March 78.9 68.9 10.0 April 158.4 71.6 86.7 May 161.4 52.6 108.8 June 160.7 67.7 93.0 July 133.5 82.1 51.4 August 172.0 68.3 103.7 September 155.4 73.6 81.8 October 144.9 — — Details of the receipts for the month of October are not yet available. For the reasons set out in my reply of 12 June to my hon. Friend I regret that it is not possible to provide a worthwhile estimate on a monthly basis of a cash flow up to 1 April 1981. However, as my right hon. Friend the Lord Privy Seal explained on 27 October in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr. Carlisle) we can look forward to a substantially higher level of receipts in this period as the refunds payable under the budget agreement of 29–30 May begin to be made.