After the UK Statistics Authority rebuked Boris Johnson for reviving a claim that up to £350 million a week extra would be available for the NHS after Brexit, we look at how much the UK gives to the EU:
The UK made a net contribution to the European Union of roughly £156 million a week in 2016/17.
Treasury figures released in the summer suggested the total amount for the 12 months to March 2017 was £8.1 billion, the lowest level for five years.
The UK’s gross contribution to the EU budget in 2016/17, before the application of the rebate, totalled £16.9 billion or around £325 million a week.
But, as the UK Statistics Authority pointed out during the referendum campaign, the Treasury pays the UK’s contributions to the EU after deducting the value of the rebate.
The rebate in 2016/17 was £4.8 billion. Subtracting this from the gross contribution gives a figure of £12.2 billion.
(PA graphic)
A further subtraction of the EU’s payments to the UK public sector gives the final figure of £8.1 billion, or about £156 million a week.
The precise amount of money the UK sends to the EU is difficult to calculate.
European Union payments that are made directly to the private sector, such as universities and research organisations, are not included in the Treasury’s figures and therefore not reflected in the estimate of £156 million a week.
A briefing paper published by the House of Commons Library said that UK organisations receive around £1 billion, £1.5 billion a year directly from the European Commission.
This includes funding for research and innovation as part of the Horizon 2020 programme, and money for education, training, youth and sport through the Erasmus+ scheme.