ARMY EXPENDITURE, 1946–47 (Hansard, 2 July 1948)

§ Mr. Assheton (City of London)
Perhaps the Financial Secretary would be good enough to give the Committee some information on this matter. I am not sure that everyone here understands the exact nature of this Motion, although scale of us who have been at the Treasury have a little knowledge of these matters.

§ The Under-Secretary of State for War (Mr. Michael Stewart)
I should perhaps explain that this is an annual Resolution, and I believe, if I may say so, that it is about once in a decade that any comments are made when it is introduced. The Committee will realise that statutory authority is given in the Appropriation Acts for the process known as virement—the transfer of a surplus from one Army Vote to meet the deficit on another. The authority is given partly by the Appropriation Acts and partly by a Treasury Minute which was laid before Parliament on 5th February this year. In accordance with that authority, there was a transfer of money—an application of surpluses on some Votes to meet deficits on others—and further, in accordance with the Resolution which was passed in this House in 1879, colloquially known as the Monk Resolution, the extent to which this process of transferring surpluses on one Vote to meet deficits on another has been carried out is laid before Parliament, and hon. Members will see it in the Schedule on the Order Paper.
Hon. Members will notice that the sums involved are not large. The explanations have already been laid before Parliament in the Army Appropriation Accounts. In the main, the use of this process of virement arose in some cases because of quite minor miscalculations, in one case of the order of one per cent., and in another case 0.07 per cent., of the amount of money that would be required. In other cases certain bills which we had not anticipated we should have to meet this year were, in fact, presented and had to be met. I think, therefore, the Committee will agree that there is nothing of very great substance here, and we are asking the Committee to carry through a normal constitutional procedure.

§ Mr. Emrys Hughes (South Ayrshire)
I do not agree that this is a minor matter. According to this Schedule, there is a net surplus of £34,382,750, and there is no very clear explanation of how far this net surplus is to be expended. This is only an indication of the huge sum that is being spent this year for military purposes. Actually, so far as the nation is concerned, there is not a net surplus but a deficit of about £300 million as a result of this year's swollen Army Estimates. There are various items on which I would like a reply from the Under-Secretary of State. There is a question of the disposal of surplus stores—

§ The Chairman
The hon. Member cannot discuss the eventual disposal of the surplus. That question may only be discussed on the Estimates in which that item appears. The only question here is why there is a surplus. Questions on general policy are not permissible.

§ Mr. Hughes
These figures are entirely illusory; in fact, there is no surplus On analysing this Schedule it will be seen that there is no surplus. The whole thing means that we are spending £300 million a year on the Army in peace time, and I wish to make an emphatic protest.

§ Major Haughton (Antrim)
May I seek your guidance, Major Milner? I am a raw recruit in these matters, and I am among those referred to by my hon. Friend the Member for the City of London (Mr. Assheton) as not being familiar with this procedure. I wish to ask you whether or not any comment may be made on any of the items in this Schedule, some of which result from failure to spend money and some from an excess of expenditure. May I comment on any of them?

§ The Chairman
I think that the appropriate place would be on the Estimates in which any of these items appear.

§ Mr. Assheton
I am much obliged to the Under-Secretary of State for his explanation. Although this is a matter which occurs only about once in 10 years or so, it is as well to understand what happens, and in that connection I think it was useful of him to say what he did.

	£	s.	d.
Total Surpluses	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	42,865,286	15	0
Total Deficits	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	8,482,535	18	9
Net Surplus	…	…	…	…	£34,382,750	16	3

SCHEDULE
No. of Vote	Army Services, 1946–47 Votes	Deficits	Surpluses
Excesses of Actual over Estimated Gross Expenditure	Deficiencies of Actual as compared with Estimated Receipts	Surpluses of Estimated over Actual Gross Expenditure	Surpluses of Actual as compared with Estimated Receipts
		£	s.	d.	£	s.	d.	£	s.	d.	£	s.	d.
1	Pay, &c., o. the Army	…	—	—	14,086,858	3	4	1,477,984	1	6
2	Reserve Forces, Territorial Army, Cadet Forces, &c.	—	—	779,614	13	1	33,183	17	10
3	Medical Services	…	…	—	—	90,483	16	0	38,764	9	10
4	Educational Establishments	—	36,167	12	5	163,175	17	5	—
5	Quartering and Movements	5,761,678	16	11	497,152	15	0	—	—
6	Supplies	…	…	…	—	55,780	5	3	18,172,668	1	4	—
7	Clothing	…	…	…	—	—	321,963	13	10	76,192	15	10
8	General Stores	…	…	1,298,011	11	1	—	—	16,860	14	9
9	Warlike Stores	…	…	—	—	2,478,021	14	5	173,935	0	1
10	Works, Buildings and Lands	—	—	1,590,440	3	9	1,104,251	4	11
11	Miscellaneous Effective Services	—	275,006	16	9	572,594	2	9	—
12	War Office	…	…	…	21,934	1	0	—	—	6,352	3	7
13	Half-Pay, Retired Pay and other Non - effective Charges for Officers	—	—	253,372	12	2	14,912	9	2
14	Pensions and other Non-effective Charges for Warrant Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, men and others	—	1,538	6	11	591,823	6	3	—
15	Civil Superannuation, Compensation and Gratuities	535,265	13	5	—	—	1,296	12	8
	Balances Irrecoverable and Claims Abandoned	—	—	820,537	0	6	—
		7,616,890	2	5	865,645	16	4	39,921,553	4	10	2,943,733	10	2
		Total Deficits:	Total Surpluses:
		£8,48,482,535 18s. 9d.	£42,865,286 15s.
		Net Surplus £34,382,750 16s. 3d."