§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will update at 430W current prices and in the light of subsequent changes in defence estimates the figures printed in the Second Report of the Expenditure Committee, HC 254 (1976–77) p.x.
§ Mr. Mulley,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 7th February 1978; Vol. 943, c. 517], gave the following answer:
The information is as follows: 431W
£ million at 1977 survey prices 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 Annual average1980–81 to 1983–84 1. Pre-Defence Review Programme … … … 6,884 6,970 7,051 7,218 7,425 7,695 7,845 8,067 2. Cuts announced in— (a)May/October 1973 … … … … 58 146 — — — — — — (b) December 1973 … … … … … — 364 — — — — — — (c) April 1974 … … … … … … — 98 — — — — — — (d) Defence Review … … … … … — — 533 479 632 887 1,102 1,219 (e) April 1975 … … … … … … — — — 195 — — — — (f) 1975 Public Expenditure Survey … … … — — — — 232 261 222 — (g) July 1976 … … … … … … — — — — 116 — — — (h) December 1976 … … … … … — — — — 116 267 — — 3. Total reductions … … … … … … 58 608 533 674 1,096 1,415 1,324 1,219 4. Revised defence budget totals … … … … 6,826 6,362 6,518 6,544 6,329 6,280 6,521 6,848 The Government have announced in Cmnd. 7049 that the defence budgets for the next three years, on the same price base, will be: 1978–79 £6,286 million, 1979–80 £6,466 million, and 1980–81 £6,660 million. The last figure is subject to review in the 1978 survey in the light of our economic circumstances.