§ Mr. Nicholas BennettTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has as to average per capita disposable income for each region in the United Kingdom after taking account of average mortgage repayments in each region.
§ Mr. MajorThe only available regional information on average per capita disposable income after taking account of mortgage repayments is from family expenditure surveys. Data for 1985 and 1986 combined are:
£ per person per week North 58.77 Yorkshire and Humberside 59.44 East Midlands 63.43 East Anglia 67.77 Greater London 82.43 Rest of the South East 76.87 South West 69.63 West Midlands 59.84 North West 62.16 Wales 60.73 Scotland 62.54 Northern Ireland 52.16 United Kingdom 66.83 Data from the family expenditure survey are subject to sampling variation. Comparisons between these regional figures should also be interpreted carefully as mortgage repayments per capita vary between regions according to the proportion of mortgaged dwellings as well as with the average size of mortgages.