§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will publish a table indicating what proportion of total public expenditure in Wales was represented by capital expenditure on housing in each of the past 10 years;
(2) if he will publish a table showing, in real terms, the capital expenditure on housing in Wales for each of the past 10 years.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsTotal public expenditure is measured net of certain forms of income. The proportion of this net total public expenditure within the responsibility of my right hon. Friend represented by net capital expenditure on housing in each of the past 10 years is as follows:
per cent. 1974–75 †14.6 1975–76 †12.3 1976–77 †10.6 1977–78 †8.4 1978–79 7.3 1979–80 7.5 1980–81 5.7 1981–82 2.9 *1982–83 4.0 *1983–84 6.2 * Provisional. † Due to changes in the classification of certain items of public expenditure, the figures for these years are not strictly comparable with those that follow. It is important to note that these percentages are misleading in that the net housing capital figure is derived by deducting receipts from gross expenditure, and such housing receipts have risen steeply since 1980–81.
220WTaking average 1982–83 prices as the base and adjusting for general inflation as measured by the gross domestic product deflator, net capital expenditure on housing in Wales for each of the last 10 years is estimated to have been as follows:
£ million 1974–75 413 1975–76 303 1976–77 270 1977–78 194 1978–79 178 1979–80 184 1980–81 142 1981–82 69 1982–83 95 1983–84 151 Taking account of housing capital receipts, the comparable gross capital expenditure figures for housing are estimated to be as follows:
£million 1974–75 439 1975–76 330 1976–77 297 1977–78 220 1978–79 216 1979–80 215 1980–81 173 1981–82 143 1982–83 192 1983–84 245