HC Deb 23 May 1990 vol 173 cc235-6W
Mr. Fisher

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will publish a table showing the cost of(a) the Royal Marines and (b) the Royal Air Force bands in each of the last 10 years.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

Full details of all the costs of maintaining Royal Marines and Royal Air Force bands are not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost and effort. The tables show those costs which can be estimated from information held centrally.

The estimated Royal Marines costs, which cover pay, ERNIC, pensions and gratuities and other personnel costs (including travel and subsistence) are as follows:

Year £ million
1980–81 5.2
1981–82 5.3
1982–83 5.4
1983–84 5.6
1984–85 6.0
1985–86 6.4
1986–87 7.0
1987–88 6.9
1988–89 7.2
1989–90 7.5

The estimated costs for the RAF are as follows:

(£100Ks)
Year Service pay Civilian pay1 Band grants2
1980–81 18.5
1981–82 20.4
1982–83 21.6
1983–84 23.1 0.2
1984–85 24.4 0.5
1985–86 26.7 0.3
1986–87 28.8 0.4
1987–88 30.6 0.4
1988–89 32.6 1.6 0.4
1989–90 34.9 1.7 0.5
1 Information for years prior to 1988–89 is not held centrally.
2 Information for years prior to 1983–84 is not held centrally.

Mr. Fisher

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many public performances by Royal Marines and Royal Air Force bands last year were in(a) England, Wales and Scotland, (b) Northern Ireland and (c) elsewhere.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

Records are not held centrally in the form requested and the information could not be provided without disproportionate cost.

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