HC Deb 22 October 1987 vol 120 cc855-8W
Mr. William Powell

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the early payments made by the United Kingdom in August, September and October to the European Commission, as a result of its financial difficulties.

Mr. Brooke

In each of these three months the European Commission estimated that its spending obligations would exceed the revenue available under the 1987 budget. It therefore requested member states, in accordance with article 10(2) of Council regulation 2891/77, to advance by one month the payment of own resources other than VAT. The Government were satisfied that these requests were within the vires of article 10(2) and accordingly made advance payments from the Consolidated Fund on 20 August, 21 September and 20 October, under section 2(3) of the European Communities Act 1972. Payments of levies and duties in the following month have been, or will be, reduced in each case by the amount of the advance.

The Commission also overdrew its accounts with member states, in accordance with article 12(2) of Council regulation 2891/77, in August and September. It expects to do so again in October. The Government have met (or propose to meet) these obligations from the Consolidated Fund, in accordance with section 2(3) of the European Communities Act 1972. Repayments are made via deductions from subsequent own resources payments.

The amounts involved in these drawings are set out in the following table:

Early payment of non-VAT own resources under Article 10(2) (reimbursed in following month) End of month overdraft under Article 12(2)
£ million £ million
August 158.0 151.7
September 148.0 109.6
October 145.5 194.0
1 Estimated

The total amount which the Community is authorised to spend during 1987 remains as set out in the 1987 budget and supplementary budget. There is therefore no net addition to public expenditure arising from the Commission's use of these facilities.

The Community's cash difficulties in 1987 should be resolved before the end of the year as the new system of

Table 1
Civil Service Non-industrial elected Union Representatives
Estimates of numbers with paid time off for Industrial Relations Duties and Trade Union Activities (as at 31 March 1987)
Departments 5 per cent, and less 6–10 per cent. 11–20 per cent. 21–30 per cent. 31–40 per cent. 41–50 per cent. 51–60 per cent. 61–70 per cent. 71–80 per cent. 81–90 per cent. 91–99 per cent. 100 per cent. Total Full-time Equivalent
1. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 575 29 16 6 3 0 1 2 0 0 1 5 638 22.0
2. Customs and Excise 585 76 60 12 18 12 6 12 5 8 7 1 802 81.0
3. Ministry of Defence 971 159 96 33 14 7 3 5 6 0 1 23 1,318 106.0
4. Department of Employment Group 1,447 321 120 44 16 4 6 2 4 2 1 10 1,977 98.0
5. Department of Environment/Transport ExcPSA 417 84 29 4 7 4 3 2 0 1 0 16 567 44.0
6. Foreign and Commonweath Office Including Overseas Development Administration 90 9 4 3 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 4 116 11.0
7. Department of Health and Social Security 1,489 619 198 72 32 39 14 25 39 54 16 28 2,625 331.0
8. Home Office Including Prison Department 921 169 127 29 11 4 3 1 0 6 11 10 1,292 91.0
9. Department of Trade and Industry 416 28 24 10 3 7 1 1 4 1 3 9 507 34.0
10. Inland Revenue 1,723 374 130 39 34 14 14 4 9 3 3 6 2,353 130.0
11. Lord Chancellor's Department 66 15 28 7 5 5 2 2 2 0 0 9 141 20.0
12. Department for National Savings 88 29 16 3 1 2 3 1 1 0 0 13 157 24.0
13. PSA—Including Crown Suppliers 397 47 14 2 0 6 1 1 0 0 0 4 472 23.0
14. Scottish Office Including Scottish Prisons, Scottish Record Office, and General Register (Scotland) 221 48 18 5 2 1 1 1 2 0 0 7 303 20.0
15. Other Government Departments 819 75 89 18 11 14 3 2 3 1 1 20 1,058 84.0
Total 10,225 2,082 969 287 160 120 62 62 75 76 44 168 14,326 1,119.0

Table 2
Costs of non-industrial union elected representatives
Department Total number expressed as whole time equivalent Cost in salaries wages and direct benefit (£ million) Cost as percentage of wage bill Total number of non-industrial staff at 31 March 1987
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 22 0.28 0.20 9,894
Customs and Excise 81 0.99 0.30 26,090
Ministry of Defence 106 1.19 0.10 93,289
Department of Employment Group 98 1.19 0.17 64,045
Department of Environment/Transport (excluding PSA) 44 0.53 0.20 20,489
Foreign and Commonwealth Office (including Overseas Development Administration) 11 0.17 0.10 9,453
DHSS 331 3.15 0.33 95,408
Home Office (including Prison Department 91 1.18 0.25 34,567
Department of Trade and Industry 34 0.47 0.27 12,597
Inland Revenue 130 1.56 0.20 67,768
Lord Chancellor's Department 20 0.27 0.28 10,211
Department for National Savings 24 0.22 0.33 7,606
PSA (including Crown Suppliers) 23 0.33 0.18 16,022
Scottish Office (including General Register Office Scotland, Scottish Record Office and Scottish Prison Service) 20 0.26 0.21 9,482

delayed payment of EAGGF advances, adopted at the Agriculture Council at its meeting on 19–20 October, comes into effect.