§ Lord Vivianasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are confident that the security of the United Kingdom will not be endangered if there is no increase in the Ministry of Defence budget for the next financial year to counter terrorism and pay for any additional overseas commitments. [HL3273]
§ Lord BachFunds to meet the additional cost of overseas commitments are sought at Main Estimates, once a taut and realistic estimate has been calculated. In 2001–02 they were shown under Request for Resources 2, Conflict Prevention. Additional funds were provided at Spring Supplementary Estimates 2001–02 to meet in full the additional costs which the Ministry of Defence had incurred on operations overseas. A similar process will be followed for 2002–03. Separate work is in progress on counter terrorism. Once realistic Estimates for this requirement have been determined, additional funding, where necessary, will be sought.