HC Deb 23 July 1984 vol 64 cc443-5W
Mr. Knox

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each year since 1979 (a) total public expenditure, (b) public

*Indentifiable Public Expenditure
England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Total United Kingdom
1978–79
in cash terms £ billion 41.1 5.8 2.8 2.2 51.9
as percentage of United Kingdom identified expenditure 79 11 5 4 (100)
1979–80
in cash terms £ billion 48.9 6.8 3.3 2.5 61.5
as percentage of United Kingdom identified expenditure 80 11 5 4 (100)
1980–81
in cash terms £ billion 59.1 8.2 4.1 3.0 74.3
as percentage of United Kingdom identified expenditure 80 11 6 4 (100)
1981–82
in cash terms £ billion 65.9 9.3 4.5 3.3 83.1
as percentage of United Kingdom identified expenditure 79 11 6 4 (100)

expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product and (c) public expenditure as a percentage of gross national product; and how these figures compare with the averages for the European Community and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries over the same period.

Mr. Peter Rees

International comparisons of public expenditure are available only in terms of the OECD statistic "total outlays of Government", and only as a percentage of GDP. In these terms the requested comparisons are:

Total outlays of government as percentage of GDP
1979 1980 1981 1982
United Kingdom 43.2 45.4 48.0 47.4
EC average 46.7 47.8 50.3 51.3
OECD average 38.6 40.2 40.9 42.5

Source: Table R8, OECD Economic Outlook, July 1984.

Mr. Wilson

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish figures to show, for each of the past five financial years, the relative proportions of all public money spent per year in England, Scotland and Wales.

Mr. Peter Rees

[pursuant to his reply, 20 July 1984]: The following table gives identifiable public expenditure in cash and as a proportion of the total in each country of the United Kingdom for the years 1978–79 to 1982–83, excluding Government net lending to nationalised industries and the market and overseas borrowing of nationalised industries and some other public corporations, for which figures are not at present available. The term "identifiable expenditure" refers to expenditure which can be identified from official records as having been incurred in a particular country. Identifiable expenditure thus excludes expenditure on defence, overseas and other services which are incurred on behalf of the United Kingdom as a whole. In the data underlying the following table, total identifiable public expenditure represents only about 80 per cent. of the planning total, excluding the components of public corporations' external finance mentioned earlier.

England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Total United Kingdom
1982–83
in cash terms £ billion 72.0 10.3 4.8 3.7 90.8
as percentage of United Kingdom identified expenditure 79 11 5 4 (100)
* Excluding Government net lending to nationalised industries and the market and overseas borrowing of nationalised industries and some other public corporations. The extent to which expenditure can be identified may vary from year to year and between countries, particularly for services administered on an England and Wales basis. The data are derived from the 1983 territorial analysis exercise which identified where possible the territorial breakdown of the planning total for the outturn years as estimated in September 1983; they update those printed in the Official Report on 1 February 1983, columns 84–96.