§ Mr. George Cunninghamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide cash figures in current prices for each public expenditure sub-heading and total for the years 1978–79 to 1981–82 inclusive and the plans for 1982–83 and for 1983–84 on a comparable basis with the table 2.1 "Public Expenditure Plans" of page 21 of the autumn statement 1982; and if he will express each subheading and total in each case and for each year also in cost terms, base 1981–82 comparable to the totals in cost terms in table 2.2 on page 22 of the autumn statement 1982.
§ Mr. BrittanInformation on public expenditure was prepared in the form contained in tables 2.1 and 2.2 of the autumn statement so that it could be given to Parliament at the earliest possible opportunity. I regret that directly comparable information for earlier years is not readily available in the form requested. The public expenditure White Paper, to be published early in the new year, will give information for past years in cash and cost terms for each main expenditure programme.