§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Prime Minister if she will publish a table or tables listing the identifiable public expenditure per capita for (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) Wales, for each of the last years for which figures are available, giving a separate breakdown for housing, health, education, social services, tourism, transport, roads, industrial support, local government, special employment measures, fire and emergency services, police and prisons.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Norfolk, South (Mr. MacGregor) to my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Mr. Fallon) on 16 December 1986, at columns 488–498. More detailed figures are not readily available. Figures for local authority expenditure
(£ Million) Area 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 11986–87 North East 123.0 107.0 101.1 109.7 91.4 68.8 61.6 46.4 89.8 North West 76.5 74.1 122.2 177.5 133.1 115.5 107.4 83.0 113.7 Yorkshire & Humberside 30.2 21.5 38.7 47.1 36.4 23.5 26.8 24.2 27.2 East Midlands 2.3 2.4 3.2 7.2 8.8 8.2 3.8 4.4 8.4 West Midlands — — — — — — — — — South West 6.0 5.0 8.5 10.3 11.0 7.8 9.5 8.6 14.6 Scotland 107.3 70.2 133.3 142.7 287.3 143.0 109.2 107.5 170.0 Wales 71.5 50.7 103.5 122.2 121.5 72.1 92.7 84.4 88.9 Great Britain Total 416.8 330.9 490.5 616.7 689.5 438.9 411.0 358.5 512.6 1Figures for 1986–87 are provisional. Provision for expenditure on regional development grants for financial years 1987–88 to 1989–90, as set out in the Supply Estimates for 1987–88 and as incorporated in the public expenditure White Paper for later years, is as follows1
£ millions 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 England2 105.0 90.0 100.0 Scotland 67.0 57.0 65.0 Wales 32.0 26.7 27.3 Great Britain Total 204.0 173.7 192.3 1 The figures for future years are net of recoveries but gross of European Community receipts. The figures for past years are for gross payments made. 2 Estimates for future expenditure are produced only for England as a whole and are not broken down by region. The projected fall in expenditure between 1986–87 and 1987–88 is the result of the Government's 1984 decision to replace the old RDG scheme, which supported capital investment without reference to employment, by a new and more cost-effective scheme linked to the creation of jobs.