§ Lord Bleaseasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will publish an outline statement detailing the basis for the attribution of revenue to Northern Ireland and give relevant figures for the last 10 years.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Northern Ireland Office (Baroness Denton of Wakefield)Apportionment of Northern Ireland's attributed share of revenue is calculated by reference to gross tax revenues, and the method of attribution varies between different taxes. The cost of collection is deducted at the rate of 2.1 per cent. In order to arrive at the net attributed share, deduction is also made in respect of an apportioned share of the UK's contribution to the European Community budget, based on Northern Ireland's attributed share of VAT, Customs duties and agricultural levies.
Taxes in Northern Ireland are levied by Parliament at the same rates and in the same manner as in Great Britain. The allocation to Northern Ireland of its attributed share of tax revenues is determined by the Treasury. It is calculated in accordance with Statutory Instruments (SI 1975/1313, 1977/1879, 1983/1599 and 1988/1667) made under Section 15 of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973.
Payments are made into the Northern Ireland Consolidated Fund and take the form of weekly instalments based on annual estimates. The estimates are subsequently adjusted in the light of final tax collection data and final settlement is effected by means of adjustments to later transfers.
The attributed share of UK revenues to Northern Ireland over the last 10 financial years was as follows:
Year £ 1983–84 1,603,034,464 1984–85 1,647,473,044 1985–86 1,808,174,974 1986–87 2,030,834,826 1987–88 2,218,709,227 1988–89 2,383,344,413 1989–90 2,683,048,760 1990–91 2,927,669,888 1991–92 2,944,843,850 1992–93 2,632,130,322 1993–94 3,090,256,032