§ Mr. Knoxasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the present level of the contingency reserve; and what payments have been made from the reserve since March.
§ Mr. Peter ReesAs shown in the public expenditure White Paper, the reserve for 1984–85 was set at £2¾ billion. Since then, increases in programme expenditure of about £½ billion have been charged to it, the two main items of which are Health Service review body pay decisions (£0.2 billion) and Revised and Summer Supplementary Estimates (£0.2 billion). Other potential changes in programmes are being monitored closely and will be formally charged or credited to the reserve as the amounts involved become more certain.