Public Property

Lord Whitty
asked Her Majesty's Government:

What proportion of national capital assets were owned by the public sector, defined as central government, local government and nationalised industries and other publicly owned companies, in each of the years 1976, 1996, 2006 or years for which figures are available; and what they estimate the proportion will be at the end of the current comprehensive spending review.[HL7340]

Lord McKenzie of Luton
The information requested falls within the responsibilities of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from the National Statistician, Karen Dunnell, dated 14 September 2006.

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning what proportion of national capital assets were owned by the public sector, defined as central government, local government and nationalised industries and other publicly owned companies, in each of the years 1976, 1996, 2006 or years for which figures are available; and what they estimate the proportion will be at the end of the current comprehensive spending review. (HL7340)

The estimates below are calculated using estimates of net capital stock as published on 24 July 2006. Estimates of capital stock measure the value of fixed assets in existence. Net capital stock represents the value of these assets after depreciation is taken into account.

The public sector is defined using National Accounts definitions and comprises central government, local government and public corporations.

The annual ONS publication, Capital Stocks, Capital Consumption and Non-Financial Balance Sheets, can be found on the National Statistics website:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=10730&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=272

ONS does not produce National Accounts forecasts.

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|Year|Per cent|
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|1976|43%     |
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|1996|22%     |
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|2005|21%     |
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