§ Mr. David Priceasked the Secretary of State for Defence what will be the estimated expenditure of the Ministry of Defence on research and development for 1969–70, 1970–71 and 1971–72, respectively, calculated on the same basis as the figures for the total Defence Budget quoted in table 2.1 of Command Paper No. 4234, Public Expenditure 1968–69 to 1973–74.
§ Mr. John MorrisFor 1969–70 no later figure is available than that given in the Statement on the Defence Estimates 1969 (Cmnd. 3927), Chapter VI, paragraph 1. For the precise figures for 1970–71 and 1971–72, I would ask the hon. Member to await the publication of the 1970 and 1971 Statements on the Defence Estimates. However, it is expected that research and development expenditure will continue to absorb about the same proportion of the Defence Budget as it does now, i.e., about 11 per cent.