§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his reply of 27 January 2000,Official Report, column 327W, on departmental budgets, how much of the increase in the total budget for his Department and the National Assembly between the expected outturn for 1999–2000 and the budget for 2000–01 is for the effects of inflation. [109094]
§ Mr. Paul MurphyDuring Spending Reviews, forecasts for inflation are reflected in the settlement, but form only one component of that settlement.
Changes to the size of the Welsh block are mainly determined by applying the population-based Barnett formula to changes in planned spending on comparable services in Departments of the United Kingdom Government, with some exceptions where this is not appropriate.
As a result it is not possible to identify an element of the increase to the block which is solely an allowance for the effects of inflation.