HC Deb 25 June 1998 vol 314 c616W
Dr. Lynne Jones

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he first was informed that(a) there was likely to be an underspend in the Budget for 1997–98 and (b) that it was likely to be of the order of £750 million. [47036]

Mr. Darling

The Treasury monitors public spending against plans continuously through the year. Data are collated from a wide range of sources and estimates of the outturn for the year as a whole are liable to fluctuate as new information comes in. As far as public spending in 1997–98 is concerned, the position at the time the Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report was published as described in section 4.3.3. Some uncertainty remains, mainly because final data for local authority spending are not yet available and will not be for some time. £750 million of the underspend has been carried forward into 1998–99.