asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of gross domestic product at market prices was allocated to expenditure on social security in 1983–84; and what he expects the outturn to be for 1984–85.

The recently published public expenditure White Paper (Cmnd. 9428) showed the latest estimated outturn expenditure on social security in the United Kingdom for 1983–84 as £36,301 million and an expected outturn for 1984–85 of £39,145 million. Social security benefit payments—which account for some 96 per cent. of all social security expenditure — are considered to be transfer payments and, therefore, do not form part of gross domestic product. However, if the figures are expressed as a percentage of GDP, they would amount to 11·9 per cent. and 12·0 per cent. respectively.