asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will specify when and how parliamentary sanction was obtained to incur direct public expenditure for the surrendered balances of £1,695,000 in 1980–81, £62,000 in 1981–82 and £1,185,000 in 1983–84 on Votes under the equivalents of the current sub-heads class V, vote 10, subhead C2 and class VIII, vote 4, subhead B5, by means of identical sums being credited to the non-surrenderable grants in aid which had been the subject of a vote under the then equivalents of subheads C1 and B4; and if he will make a statement.

[pursuant to his reply, 17 May 1985, c. 248]Parliament approved the total provision of the votes in question under the relevant Appropriation Acts. The Government have discretion to vary the allocation of the totals between subheads; by long-standing custom this is excercised by the Treasury.