§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a complete list of all items and projects for which he is responsible, estimated at £1 million or over likely overspent from the last Defence Estimates, together with the amount overspent or likely overspent for items and projects from when first placed in the Defence Estimates.
§ Mr. SainsburyNo. While the terms of the question are not entirely clear, it would appear to cover a lot of ground 773W and a great deal of effort would be required to answer it. I am satisfied that the scale of effort would be disproportionate, particularly since the annual major project statement for defence equipment which my Department supplies to the appropriate Committees of the House shows a comparison, for projects for which approved expenditure on development and production combined exceeds £250 million, between the estimated cost at the time of approval and the currently estimated cost.