asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the national income is received by taxpayers with incomes under £500 a year; how many people are in this category; and how many are in the remaining group.

I would refer the hon. Member to Table 10 of the White Paper on National Income and Expenditure (Cmd. 7099)

Are those figures up to date or are they 12 months old? What I want are the up-to-date figures.

They give the most recent information we have. There is, of course, always a time lag in the collection of this information, but I hope that in due course we shall be able to give more up-to-date figures. As I have said, the most recent information is contained in the table I have mentioned.

How old are those figures?

If the hon. Gentleman will turn up the table, he will find that it is all clearly explained.