§ Mr. Higginsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for Worthing of 12 March, he will give figures for each of the nine years before 1984–85 for discretionary increases in public expenditure above departmental plans made from the contingency reserve to individual Departments and any unused balances.
284W
§ Mr. LawsonThe discretionary increases in public expenditure above departmental plans met from the contingency reserve for years before 1984–85 are shown in the table. It should be noted that because the contingency reserve was available only for discretionary increases, any unused balances were a poor guide to the under or overshoot of the planning total as a whole (which is shown in table 1.9 of the public expenditure White Paper (Cmnd. 9702)).
£ million (rounded to nearest £5 million) Department* 1979–80† 1980–81† 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 MOD 10 — 425 370 — FCO 30 10 — 30 25 European Community 25 — — 135 — MAFF 85 15 40 25 10 DTI — 50 — 225 235 Energy — — — — 15 Employment — 15 170 20 15 Transport 5 — — 45 10 DOE — 5 — 175 60 Home Office 5 — 30 20 20 DES 15 — 20 — 15 OAL — — — 5 5 DHSS 205 20 35 330 195 Scotland — — — — — Wales — — — — 60 Northern Ireland 10 50 40 5 — Chancellor's Departments 5 25 20 — 5 Other departments/unallocable‡ 115 15 5 15 10 Nationalised Industry EFLs ║ — 750 360 — — Unused Balances 70 205 1,355 1,000 820 Total (Contingency Reserve) 880 1,160 2,500 2,400 1,500 * As appropriate for the year in question and not adjusted for subsequent classification changes. † Survey prices for the appropriate year. ‡ Includes small departments and unallocable sums. ║ Not allocated to sponsoring departments in this table. Note:
Figures for earlier years are not readily available in this format. For 1978–79, the aggregate call on the contingency reserve of £750 million was £710 million; for 1977–78. die comparable figures were were £750 million and £685 million (at 1977 survey prices).