§ Mr. Warrenasked the Secretary of State for Defence which laboratories within his Department, or within bodies for which he is responsible, have had their research budgets reduced in this financial year; what is the financial value of the reduction; what is this figure expressed as a percentage of the total work carried out in the laboratory; and which of the laboratories for which he is responsible are being considered for privatisation.
§ Mr. Butler[pursuant to his reply, 18 June 1985]: It is not our practice to publish the financial allocations made to individual research establishments; but the priorities which determine the allocations of funds between different technologies and programmes vary from year to year. The overall defence research budget for 1985–86 is £383 million, or some 3 per cent. greater than the 1984–85 budget of £371 million. As regards the last part of my hon. Friends's question, the evaluation of research and project support reqirements and how they are met is a continuing process.