§ Miss Fookesasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what further progress has been made in securing United Kingdom budget refunds from the European Community.
§ Mr. RidleyThe Commission has today adopted decisions granting the balance of the United Kingdom's Community budget refunds for 1980. As a result, we are to receive a further £109 million, which will bring our total gross refund receipts for 1980 to £799 million (1,438 million ECUs). The United Kingdom contributes to these gross receipts, as to other Community expenditure, and the corresponding total of net receipts is 1,175 million ECUs, as provided in the Council agreement of 30 May 1980.
The Commission's latest decisions have two components:
391W(i) repayment by the United Kingdom of the instalment received last January under the financial mechanism and;
(ii) further payments to the United Kingdom under the supplementary measures scheme.
When the Commission's final estimates for 1980 were compiled, the United Kingdom's share of gross contributions to the Community budget turned out to exceed our estimated share of Community GDP by a little less than 10 per cent. We therefore failed to qualify for the financial mechanism and have to repay the instalment of some £211 million received under the financial mechanism in January. In accordance with the 30 May 1980 agreement, we are to receive this sum under supplementary measures instead.
The total sum that we are to receive under the latest decision on supplementary measures is £319.7 million (563.3 million ECUs). This comprises net additional payments of £109.2 million as well as the £210.5 million (351.75 million ECUs) previously recived under the financial mechanism and now transferred to supplementary measures.
The supplemetary measures scheme provides for contributions by the Community in respect of public sector investment programmes in the United Kingdom, principally in the regions. Details of the regional programmes attracting support under the scheme were provided in earlier answers on 18 December 1980—[Vol. 996, c. 389–90 and 25 March 1981—[Vol. 1, c. 329–30].
The Commission's latest decisions provide in addition for a Community contribution in respect of the Department of Transport's trunk roads programme. Projects that form part of this programme include sections of the M25 orbital 392W motorway around London, the A45 Ipswich bypass, the M54 from Telford to the M6 and the A40 Gloucester northern bypass.
The accompanying table shows total Community contributions under the supplementary measures scheme for 1980–81 programmes of public sector investment in the United Kingdom.
The Community budget refunds are enabling public expendture programmes generally in the United Kingdom to be sustained at levels higher than the country could otherwise have afforded. Expenditure programmes throughout the country are benefiting accordingly. The refunds do not, however, open the way to increases in domestic expenditure programmes beyond the levels already planned. These planned levels were set on the assumption that substantial refunds would be received from the Community budget.
The 30 May agreement provides that refunds for a particular year should be paid from the budget of the following year. It also provides for the possibility of speeding up payment of supplementary measures. The 1981 Community budget made provision accordingly for advance payments to the United Kingdom of 150 million ECUs, and the Commission has put forward to the Council a proposal for advance payments of this amount. The Council has not however, acted on the Commission's proposal so far and is not likely to do so before the end of the year. The Commission is expected to propose accordingly that the provision be carried forward into 1982. The Commission and the Council are committed to providing not less than 80 per cent. of our supplementary measures entitlement for 1981 by the end of March 1982.
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Community Contributions in respect of United Kingdom Public Sector Investment Programmes, 1980–81 £ million Northern England North-West England Yorkshire and Humberside South-West England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Trunk Roads Total Roads 16.8 27.3 9.5 — 37.0 41.2 25.6 103.0 260.4 Rail 9.6 17.0 19.8 3.7 24.4 7.1 1.2 — 82.8 Water and Sewerage 20.2 24.6 22.7 5.3 — 9.2 10.9 — 92.9 Advance Factories — 0.9 — — 7.2 12.4 2.5 — 23.0 Land reclamation — — — — 3.6 — 0.2 — 3.8 Telecommunications 33.6 64.5 69.3 13.8 56.4 47.8 33.0 — 318.4 Housing — — — — — — 17.8 — 17.8 Total 80.2 134.3 121.3 22.8 128.6 117.7 91.2 103.0 799.1