Public Expenditure (Hansard, 13 December 1983)

§ Mr. Prior

[pursuant to his reply, 12 December 1983]: The statement made by my right hon. Friend the 448W Chancellor of the Exchequer on 17 November announced a total public expenditure planning total for the Northern Ireland Programme of £4,020 million for 1984–85. Because of subsequent minor technical adjustments this now stands at £4,028 million, which is an increase of some £233 million on the forecast outturn for 1983–84 and £9 million on the previously planned total for 1984–85 which underlay the 1983 public expenditure White Paper—Cmnd. 8789. As indicated in my right hon. Friend's statement, the figures will continue to be subject to further, technical adjustments before publication in the 1984 public expenditure White Paper. I have decided on the following cash allocations to individual programmes within the overall Northern Ireland planning total —rounded to the nearest £5 million.

	£ million 1984–85
Agriculture, fisheries, food and forestry	90
Industry, energy, trade and employment	415
Transport	115
Housing	340
Other environmental services	160
Law, order and protective services	415
Education, libraries, science and arts	585
Health and personal social services	660
Social security	1,180
Other public services	30
Common services	40

These planning figures will form the basis for preparation by Northern Ireland Departments and the Northern Ireland Office of main Estimates for the coming year. These will provide for the detailed allocations to services for which each Department is responsible and will be presented to Parliament in due course. The proposals reflect my assessment of how best to allocate the Northern Ireland public expenditure total in response to local needs and circumstances and were drawn up with the benefit of advice from the Northern Ireland Assembly. Copies of a more detailed statement on these allocations have been placed in the Library of the House of Commons.