§ Lord Diamondasked Her Majesty's Government:
What amounts were deducted from public sector capital spending in the answer given to the Lord Diamond on 6th December 1983 (Col. 1079) in respect of
- (a) the sale of council houses, and
- (b) the privatisation programme.
§ Lord CockfieldThe value of council house sales included as receipts in the two series was as follows:—
1.Receipts from council house sales included in general Government gross domestic fixed capital formation.
£ billion, 1980 prices 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 (Figures not available before 1979) 0.3 0.8 0.9 1.9 2. Receipts from council house sales included in the definition of capital expenditure in public expenditure programmes:
The privatisation programme affects capital spending figures in two ways. First, receipts from the sale of 917WA assets reduce the figures; such receipts often take the form of sales of financial assets. Second, the transfer of public-sector activities to the private sector leads to a continuing lower level of capital spending by the public sector than would otherwise be the case. It is not practicable to quantify this.
£billion,cost terms (base year 1982–83) 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 0.6 0.7 0.8 1.5 2.0