§ Mr. Christopher Priceasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table of local 446W government (a) current and (b) capital expenditure in each year from1978 to 1983–84 in cost terms consistent with table 1–14 of Cmnd. 8789-I.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw[pursuant to his reply, 28 March 1983, c. 94]: The information requested is as follows:
Local authority expenditure in cost terms (using the GDP deflater): England £ million base year 1981–82 Current Capital 1977–78 17,800 4,900 1978–79 18,100 4,400 1979–80 18,400 4,800 1980–81 18,900 3,900 1981–82 19,200 2,500 1982–83 19,700 1,900 1983–84 19,900 2,600 After allowing for increases in pay in the local authority sector, the growth in current expenditure on local services has been checked under this Administration. This is borne out by the reduction of 5 per cent. in manpower since 1979.