HC Deb 17 December 2001 vol 377 c27W
Rachel Squire

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the £100 million on defence expenditure he cited in his pre-Budget statement is the same money as the £107 million announced in the Ministry of Defence's Departmental Expenditure Limit for 2001–02. [22949]

Mr. Andrew Smith

No. The increase in total DEL for the Ministry of Defence of £107.080 million announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 28 November 2001,Official Report, column 909W, arises from the winter Supplementary Estimate presented to the House on 29 November (Cm. 5303). On the resource side, it comprises primarily the take-up of DEL end-year flexibility and the consequences of Machinery of Government changes, while the minor increase in capital also arises from a Machinery of Government change.

The sum of up to £100 million that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his pre-Budget report has not yet been included in Supplementary Estimates.