§ Lord Dean of Beswickasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the present financial subvention per capita of population from central government to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The Paymaster General (The Earl of Caithness)An exercise is carried out each year to provide information on general government expenditure which can be allocated to the individual territories of the United Kingdom. The results of the most recent exercise were given in Answer to a Parliamentary Question in another place on 19th December 1989 (OR, WS cols. 179–190). It is not possible to identify all expenditure as being for the benefit of residents of particular territories. Expenditure on defence, overseas aid and other overseas services, for example, is considered to be for the benefit of the United Kingdom as a whole. In a number of other cases a complete separation is not possible for existing official records. The per capita figures from the last exercise for identifiable expenditure by central government on grants and subsidies in 1988–89 are as follows:
The figures exclude payments towards the external finance of public corporations, grants to local authorities and overseas transactions.
£ per head England Scotland Wales N. Ireland 868 1,059 1,035 1,392