To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average UK household disposable income was in each of the last five years, broken down by region; what proportion of disposable income on average was spent on energy bills in each year; and if he will make a statement. (175533)

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 7 January 2008:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the average UK household disposable income was in each of the last five years, broken down by region; and what proportion of disposable income on average was spent on energy bills in each year (175533).

Estimates of average weekly household disposable income as well as expenditure on electricity, gas and other fuels appear in the ONS report “Family Spending”. The latest report for 2005/06 was published on the National Statistics website on 18th January 2007 at http://www:statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=361. Family Spending is the annual report on the Expenditure and Food Survey (EFS), an annual survey of approximately 7,000 households in the UK.

Table 1 shows average weekly household disposable income for each region of the United Kingdom, while table 2 shows expenditure on electricity, gas and other fuels as a percentage of household disposable income for each of these regions.

Both tables show data which have been averaged over three years, which is consistent with the presentation of regional data in Family Spending. Estimates which are based on smaller regional sub-samples are subject to larger sampling error, and so an average over three years provides more reliable estimates of regional income and expenditure. Three year averages covering three different time periods have been provided. Data are not available for earlier periods on a consistent basis due to changes in survey methodology which coincided with the introduction of the Expenditure and Food Survey which replaced the old Family Expenditure Survey in 2001-02.

Household disposable income includes all income from wages and salaries, income from self-employment, income from investment, occupational pensions and social security benefits. All these incomes are recorded after the deduction of any income tax or national insurance contributions.