asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what will be the aggregate cost of transfer payments carried on his departmental budget in 1980–81 on the basis of the inflation and employment projections in the latest Treasury short-term economic forecast.

The Government's plans for expenditure on the social security programme in 1980–81 are set out in Cmnd. 7746. These plans were taken into account in the Treasury's economic forecast published on 22 November 1979.