Statistics

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will restate Table B4 of Cm 3804 to show for (a) 1996–97, (b) 1997–98 and (c) 1998–99 updated figures based on the accounting definitions and measurement conventions of the previous plans as published in Cm 3601. [19265]

[holding answer 8 December 1997]: The following table shows table B4 of Cm 3804, the Pre-Budget Report, based on the accounting definitions and measurement conventions used in Cm 3601, Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 1997–98.

General Government expenditure
£ billion
	Outturn 1996–97	Estimate 1997–98	Forecast 1998–99
Control Total	260.6	266.5	274.2
Welfare to Work spending	—	0.2	1.2
LA spending under the capital receipts initiative	—	0.2	0.7
Cyclical social security	14.0	12.7	13.5
Central government debt interest	22.0	24.6	25.0
Accounting adjustments	10.8	9.8	10.3
GGE(X)	307.4	314.0	324.8

General Government expenditure
£ billion
	Outturn 1996–97	Estimate 1997–98	Forecast 1998–99
Privatisation proceeds	-4.4	-2.0	0.0
Other adjustments	5.2	6.1	6.6
GGE	308.1	318.1	331.4

There are three differences as compared with the table published in the Pre-Budget Report:

(i) The full receipt from the student loanbook sale (including the capitalised value of future subsidies) is scored as reducing general government expenditure (GGE) in 1997–98 and 1998–99;

(ii) Local authority debt interest payments ultimately financed by the housing element of the central government housing subsidy are included in the Control Total;

(iii)Certain licence fee receipts are excluded from the Control Total.

These differences do not affect the PSBR.

The Control Total figure for 1998–99 reflects the decision not to proceed with the commutation of £4.5 billion of local authorities housing debt to central government that was assumed in the 1997–98 FSBR. The commutation was cancelled because it would have had a net cost to the government and the PSBR, mainly because of administrative costs, and because it had no merits in terms of housing policy. However, it appeared to reduce public spending because of an anomaly in the old definition of the Control Total which scored both the subsidy paid to local authorities' housing revenue accounts by central government and the interest payments by local authorities that the subsidy financed. As the Pre-Budget Report announced, this double counting has now been removed from the Control total.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish an expanded version of table B4 of Cm 3804 to show (a) a disaggregation of the Control Total in each year by Department as in table 1.2 of Cm 3601, but adjusting for machinery of government and classification changes, and separately identifying releases from the Reserve for 1997–98 and 1998–99, (b) the use of windfall tax proceeds for uses other than Welfare to Work spending and (c) lottery-financed spending separately from other adjustments identified in the reconciliation of GGE(X) and GGE. [19266]

[holding answer 8 December 1997]: The following table shows the figures for table B4, with the departmental elements of the Control Total and lottery-financed spending identified separately. Differences from previous plans, which are allocations from and benefits to the Reserve, are identified separately for 1997–98 and 1998–99. Further details on these changes are set out in the answer I gave today to my hon. Friend the Member for East Ham (Mr. Timms). Figures for spending financed by the windfall tax were set out in table 2.1 of the Financial Statement and Budget Report July 1997, HC85.

Control total by department
£ billion
	Plans			Differences from previous plans ¹
	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99	1997–98	1998–99
Defence	21.4	21.0	22.2	-0.2	—
Foreign Office	1.1	1.1	1.1	—	—
Department for International Development	2.3	2.2	2.3	—	—
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food	4.2	3.7	3.4	—	—
Trade and Industry	2.7	3.0	2.8	-0.1	—
Export Credits Guarantee Department	—	—	—	—	—
DETR—Transport	4.8	5.2	4.6	—	—
DETR—Housing	5.9	5.1	5.6	-0.2	—
DETR—Urban and Environment	2.4	2.3	2.0	0.1	—
DETR—Local Government	31.3	31.4	32.8	—	0.9
Home Office	6.5	6.9	6.9	—	—
Legal Departments	2.7	2.7	2.7	—	—
Education and Employment	14.5	14.1	13.4	0.2	—
Department for Culture, Media and Sport	1.0	0.9	0.9	—	—
Health	33.8	35.2	36.7	0.2	1.0
Social Security	77.0	80.1	83.9	0.2	0.9
Scotland	14.5	14.5	14.6	0.2	0.2
Wales	6.8	6.9	7.0	—	0.1
Northern Ireland	8.0	8.2	8.3	—	0.1
Chancellors' Departments	3.2	3.2	3.1	—	—
Cabinet Office	1.2	1.1	1.4	—	—
European Communities	1.7	1.8	2.4	-0.5	0.1
Local authority self-financed expenditure	12.7	13.1	13.6	—	—
Further EYF takeup	—	0.7	—	0.7	—
Reserve	—	1.4	2.0	-0.9	-3.0
Control total	259.9	265.8	273.5	0	0
Welfare to Work spending	—	0.2	1.2	—	—
LA spending under the capital receipts initiative	—	0.2	0.7	—	—
Cyclical social security	14.0	12.7	13.5	—	—
Central government debt interest	22.0	24.6	25.0	—	—
Accounting adjustments	11.5	11.1	11.5	—	—
GGE(X)	307.3	314.6	325.4	—	—
Privatisation proceeds	-4.4	-2.0	—	—	—
National Lottery	0.4	1.2	1.5	—	—
Other adjustments	4.9	4.9	5.1	—	—
GGE	308.1	318.7	332.1	—	—
¹ After adjusting plans published in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses, Cm 3601, for the effects of classification and transfer changes, including a switch of £530 million from the Department for Education and Employment to the DETR Local Government programme for Nursery Vouchers and a switch of £350 million from the DETR Local Government programme to the Department of Health for Community Care, both in 1998–99. There is a real terms income in overall provision for education in 1998–99.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table, revising table S2.6 of the Pre-Budget publication, The Economy and the Public Finances; Supplementary Material, to show (a) changes between the Financial Statement and Budget Report 1997–98 and FSBR July 1997, (b) changes between FSBR July 1997 and the Pre-Budget Report November 1997 and (c) changes between FSBR 1997–98 and the Pre-Budget Report: November 1997. [19269]

[holding answer 8 December 1997]: Table A shows the changes between the 1997–98 FSBR (published in November 1996) and the July 1997 FSBR. Table B gives changes between the July 1997 FSBR and the November 1997 Pre-Budget Report. Changes between the 1997–98 FSBR and the November 1997 Pre-Budget Report are given in table C.

Table A: Changes between the July 1997 FSBR and the 1997–98 FSBR 1
£ billion
	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99
Expenditure
Control Total	-0.2	0.0	0.0
Welfare to work spending	—	0.2	1.2
LA spending under the capital receipts initiative	—	0.2	0.7
Cyclical social security	0.0	-0.5	-0.3
CG debt interest	0.1	-0.2	0.0
Accounting adjustments	1.1	0.9	0.8
GGE(X)	0.9	0.6	2.5
Privatisation proceeds	0.1	0.0	1.5
Other adjustments	-0.5	-0.2	0.1
Total GG expenditure	0.5	0.4	4.1
Receipts
Income tax	1.3	4.7	7.8
Corporation tax	1.6	2.9	2.6

Table A: Changes between the July 1997 FSBR and the 1997–98 FSBR ¹
£ billion
	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99
Windfall tax	—	2.6	2.6
Value added tax	-0.8	-0.7	-1.2
Excise duties	-0.4	-0.6	-1.5
Other taxes	3.5	1.6	2.8
Social security contributions	0.7	0.4	0.4
Other receipts	-0.4	-1.9	-0.9
Total GG receipts	5.5	8.9	12.4
Public corporations' market and overseas borrowing	1.3	0.2	0.1
PSBR	-3.6	-8.3	-8.2
¹ For explanatory footnotes see table S2.6 of the Economy and Public Finances Supplementary Material.

Table B: Changes between the Pre-Budget Report and July 1997 FSBR ¹
£ billion
	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99
Expenditure
Control Total	0.2	0.0	0.0
Welfare to work spending	—	0.0	0.0
LA spending under the capital receipts initiative	—	0.0	0.0
Cyclical social security	-0.3	-1.0	-0.5
CG debt interest	-0.3	0.0	0.5
Accounting adjustments	-0.6	-0.4	0.1
GGE(X)	-1.0	-1.3	0.1
Privatisation proceeds	0.0	0.0	0.0
Other adjustments	0.1	-0.1	0.0
Total GG expenditure	-0.9	-1.4	0.1
Receipts
Income tax	-0.4	-1.0	-0.4
Corporation tax	0.1	0.2	-0.5
Windfall tax	—	0.0	0.0
Value added tax	0.0	0.1	0.0
Excise duties	0.0	-0.6	-0.6
Other taxes	0.1	0.5	0.1
Social security contributions	0.0	0.0	0.2
Other receipts	-0.8	0.2	0.7
Total GG receipts	-0.9	-0.6	-0.5
Public corporations' market and overseas borrowing	-0.2	-0.6	0.0
PSBR	-0.2	-1.4	0.6
¹ This table differs from table S2.6 of the Pre-Budget Report in that it adjusts for the changed accounting treatment of the student loans sale (see paragraph S2.24 of the Pre-Budget Report) and corrects small errors in the 1996–97 outturn data for corporation tax, VAT and other receipts.

Table C: Changes between the Pre-Budget Report and the 1997–98 FSBR
£ billion
	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99
Expenditure
Control Total	0.0	0.0	0.0
Welfare to work spending	—	0.2	1.2
LA spending under the capital receipts initiative	—	0.2	0.7
Cyclical social security	-0.3	-1.5	-0.8
CG debt interest	-0.2	-0.2	0.6
Accounting adjustments	0.5	0.5	0.9
GGE(X)	-0.1	-0.7	2.6
Privatisation proceeds	0.1	0.0	1.5
Other adjustments	-0.4	-0.2	0.1
Total GG expenditure	-0.4	-1.0	4.2
Receipts
Income tax	0.9	3.7	7.3
Corporation tax	1.7	3.1	2.1
Windfall tax	—	2.6	2.6
Value added tax	-0.8	-0.6	-1.3
Excise duties	-0.4	-1.3	-2.2
Other taxes	3.6	2.1	2.9
Social security contributions	0.7	0.4	0.6
Other receipts	-1.2	-1.8	-0.2
Total GG receipts	4.6	8.4	11.9
Public corporations' market and overseas borrowing	1.2	-0.4	0.1
PSBR	-3.8	-9.7	-7.7

Volume 302: debated on Wednesday 10 December 1997