Mr. W. John Stewartasked the Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence whether he will given the total expenditure in the present financial year up to date on the re-armament programme for the three Services, and state, as far a. possible, how much of this has been allocated to the distressed areas?
§ Sir T. InskipI regret that it is not possible, without an incommensurate amount of labour, to assess the actual expenditure that has occurred under the Rearmament Programme during the current financial year, but I can give the hon. Member the value of orders placed between 1st April and 31st December. These amounted to a total of £137,509,900, of which £31,884,000 worth was placed in the Special and Distressed Areas. Certain items of normal expenditure are included in these figures, as it is not possible to separate them. The1302W figures do not include the sums authorised for expenditure by His Majesty's ships and naval establishments.