§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the percentage of public expenditure spent centrally or through local authorities in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Sweden on(a) health services, including dentistry, and so on, (b) pensions, (c) child benefit, (d) unemployment benefit and (e) other welfare benefits in the latest year for which figures are available together with figures showing the amount collected in income tax and the amount paid in social security as a percentage of gross domestic profit compared to 1978–79.
§ Mr. MajorThe information asked for is not available on a comparable basis across countries. That which is available on a comparable basis is given in the table, which uses OECD definitions and categories of public expenditure and taxes. These definitions do not precisely match those used in the public expenditure White Paper or the financial statement and Budget report. For instance, "social assistance grants" includes payments to enterprises as well as individuals, and ''taxes on income" includes capital gains and corporation tax.