§ 47. Mr. Wattsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment by how much metropolitan counties' spending has risen between 1979–80 and 1982–83; and how this compares with the rise in prices.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe latest estimates that I have suggest that the metropolitan counties net current expenditure rose by 61 per cent. between 1979–80 and 1982–83. Over the same period, general prices in the economy, as measured by the GDP deflator, increased by 40 per cent.