§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the total cost of the administration of his Department, expressed in constant prices, in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. FowlerThe real running costs of the Department of Health and Social Security excluding capital expenditure were:
Cost terms 1983–84 prices £ million 1979–80 1,222 1980–81 1,288 1981–82 1,339 1982–83 1,372 1983–84 1,346 The basis of allocating costs has changed over the period so that figures for different years are not directly comparable.
The corresponding figures for the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys are:
£ million 1979–80 30 1980–81 36 1981–82 *61 1982–83 33 1983–84 30 * Census year.