Tag: 1989

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Select Committees (Recommendations) on 14th March 1989.

Mr. Austin Mitchell To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Select Committee recommendations have been made about, and how many accepted by, his Department since June 1987.

Mr. Major The reports of the Treasury and Civil Service Select Committee and the Government’s replies to them are available in the Library of the House of Commons.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Shipping on 9th March 1989.

Sir David Price To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the contribution of British shipping to the United Kingdom balance of payments in 1988 and what it was in 1978, expressed both in current value and constant value terms.

Mr. Major The latest annual information relates to 1987, when the direct overseas earnings of ships operated by United Kingdom companies, net of their overseas expenditure, was £500 million. The equivalent figure in 1978 was £662 million, or about £1 billion at 1987 prices.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on British Industry (Unit Costs) on 8th March 1989.

Mr. John Marshall To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how unit costs in British industry altered in 1988; what were the comparable changes in Japan, Canada, the United States of America and other EEC countries; and how have exchange rate movements affected the comparative unit costs of British industry relative to those countries.

Mr. Major Indices calculated by the International Monetary Fund showing unit labour costs in manufacturing in 1987 and in the first three quarters of 1988 are given in the Department of Trade and Industry publication, “Monthly Review of External Trade Statistics”, for all the countries in question except Portugal, Greece and Ireland. This publication gives unit labour cost indices in terms of country’s own currencies and also in terms of common currency showing costs relative to those in other countries, allowing for the effects of exchange rate movements.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Inflation and Unemployment on 23rd February 1989.

Mr. Macdonald To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the total number of months in which inflation and unemployment fell simultaneously in the 117 months between May 1979 and January 1989.

Mr. Major The annual rate of change in the retail prices index has fallen in about half of the months between May 1979 and January 1989 and has averaged less than 5 per cent. over the last five years, compared with an average of about 15 per cent. between 1974 and 1979. Unemployment has fallen for the last 30 months in succession to under 2 million. Inflation and unemployment have fallen simultaneously in five months.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Debt Repayment on 23rd February 1989.

Mr. Sumberg To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much debt repayment has been made in each of the past two years.

Mr. Major The public sector debt repayment (PSDR) in 1987–88 was £3.5 billion. In 1988–89, the PSDR now looks likely to be somewhat higher than the £10 billion forecast in the Autumn Statement. This will be the first time that we have seen two successive years of public sector debt repayment since the beginning of the 1950s.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Exports and Imports on 23rd February 1989.

Ms. Mowlam To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish figures on the growth in visible exports and imports for 1988 and provide his latest forecast for 1989.

Mr. Major Between 1987 and 1988 the volume of visible exports grew by ¼ per cent. and the volume of visible imports grew by 13 per cent. The latest forecast for 1989 was published in the Autumn Statement.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Banking Flows on 23rd February 1989.

Mr. Rooker To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the amount of banking flows into the United Kingdom in 1987 and 1988.

Mr. Major Banking flows into the United Kingdom are estimated to have been £54.7 billion in 1987 and £35.3 billion in the first three quarters of 1988.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the CBI on 23rd February 1989.

Mr. Gill To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met the director general of the Confederation of British Industry; and what matters were discussed.

Mr. McLoughlin To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met the director general of the Confederation of British Industry; and what matters were discussed.

Mr. Couchman To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met the director general of the Confederation of British Industry; and what matters were discussed.

Mr. Charles Wardle To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met the director general of the Confederation of British Industry; and what matters were discussed.

Mr. Major My right hon. Friend meets the director general of the CBI from time to time and a wide range of subjects are discussed.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Government Expenditure on 23rd February 1989.

Mr. Janman To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the path of general Government expenditure over the period 1982–83 to the latest available date.

Mr. Yeo To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the path of general Government expenditure over the period 1982–83 to the latest available date.

Mr. Major I refer my hon. Friends to the reply I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Wanstead and Woodford (Mr. Arbuthnot).