§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what sum was spent by his Department on research in each of the last 10 years; what percentage this was of the total annual budget; what is the research budget for the forthcoming year; what percentage this is of his total budget; and what additional new research is to be undertaken.
§ Mr. FreemanThe sums spent on research and development by the Department for the last 10 years were reported in the statistical supplement to the 1994 "Forward Look of Government-funded Science, Engineering and Technology." The expenditure on research and development and the percentage that this expenditure was of total departmental expenditure are as follows:
R and D expenditure £ millions Percentage of total expenditure 1985–86 2,018.2 11.1 1986–87 1,941.5 10.5 1987–88 1,910.7 10.1 1988–89 1,879.8 9.8 1989–90 2,028.6 9.8 1990–91 2,062.9 9.5 1991–92 2,267.0 9.8 1992–93 2,220.9 9.4 1993–94 2,461.1 10.5 1994–95 2,314.6 9.9 The expenditure on research and development in the coming year has still to be determined, and will be reported in the statistical supplement to the 1995 "Forward Look".
Information on new research areas is given in paragraph 437 of the "Statement on the Defence Estimates 1994"—Cm 2550.