§ Mr. Michael Brownasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will set out in tabular form Government expenditure on help with heating costs, including the electricity discount scheme where appropriate, in 1978–79, in 1979–80 and in 1981–82 at current prices, at January 1981 prices and at January 1981 fuel prices.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe estimated annual expenditure in Great Britain on supplementary benefit heating additions, extra help towards heating costs given with family income supplement (since November 1979), and the electricity discount scheme (in 1978–79) is given below:
Current prices: £ million Based on all items RP1 at January 1981: £ million Based on fuel RP1 at January 1981: £ million 1978–79 125 165 190 1979–80 110 130 150 1981–82 240 220* —* * Based on the assumption, published in the 1980 public expenditure White Paper (Cmnd 8175) of a year-on year increase of 11 per cent, in the prices between 1980–81 and 1981–82. Similar information is not available for fuel index.