§ Lord Stoddart of Swindonasked Her Majesty's Government:
(i) What was the United Kingdom's total gross contribution to the European Union's budget in 1995; (ii) what were the total receipts to local authorities, public bodies and others through the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund in 1995; and (iii) what was the United Kingdom's total net contribution to the EU budget not including subsidies paid to farmers in 1995.
§ The Minister of State, Department of Social Security (Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish)The United Kingdom paid a total of £8,889 million in respect of its gross contributions, before abatement, to the European Community in 1995. Payments made from the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund to UK government departments during the course of 1995 amounted to £436 million and £756 million, respectively. It is not possible to provide disaggregated figures for the net contribution in terms of the cash transactions which took place in 1995. This is because the abatement relating to our contributions and receipts in respect of a year is paid in the following year.