HC Deb 11 December 1974 vol 883 cc201-3W
Mr. Trotter

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the expected level of expenditure on new equipment for the Services in each year to 1984; and what was the expenditure on new equipment in each of the last 10 years at constant 1974 prices.

Mr. William Rodgers

Since 1966–67 expenditure allocated to the procurement of new equipment, as distinct from maintenance of existing equipment, has been approximately as follows:

1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
(a) Service pay … 20 22 21 20 21
(b) Service pensions … 4 4 4 5 5
(c) Civilian pay … 15 15 16 17 17
(d) Equipment production … 30 30 30 30 29
(e) Research and development (excluding personnel costs) … 12 11 10 8 8
(f) Buildings (including DOE/PSA staff costs) 9 8 9 9 8
(g) Miscellaneous stores and services … 10 10 10 11 12

1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75
(a) Service pay … 21 28 26 25 25
(b) Service pensions … 5 5 5 5 5
(c) Civilian pay … 19 18 18 16 17
(d) Equipment production … 27 23 25 27 25
(e) Research and development (excluding personnel costs) … 7 8 9 10 10
(f) Buildings (including DOE/PSA staff costs) 8 7 7 7 7
(g) Miscellaneous stores and services … 13 11 10 10 11

A similar breakdown is not available for 1983–84. Pending final decisions on the defence review following consultation with our allies, I cannot go beyond a breakdown by the broad sub-divisions of manpower, equipment and other expenditure for which the average percentages for the five years from 1979–80 are estimated

£m. (at constant 1974 prices)
1966–67 1,410
1967–68 1,200
1968–69 1,140
1969–70 1,050
1970–71 900
1971–72 840
1972–73 1,040
1973–74 1,100
1974–75 1,040
It is not practicable to give directly comparable figures for 1965–66.

I cannot give comparable estimates for the next 10 years because equipment programmes are not yet firm, but we expect that expenditure on equipment will tend to absorb a rather larger share of the defence budget than it does at present.

Mr. Trotter

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the total defence budget has been spent on each of the following heads in each of the last 10 years; and what is his estimate of the similar breakdown for 1984: (a) Service pay, (b) Service pensions, (c) civilian pay, (d) equipment production, (e) research and development, (f) buildings, and (g) miscellaneous stores and services.

Mr. William Rodgers

The information in relation to estimated expenditure for the 10 years up to 1974–75 is as follows:

to be about 45 per cent., 40 per cent. and 15 per cent., respectively.

Mr. Frank Allaun

asked the Secretary of State for Defence, in the light of his statement on 3rd December that his decisions will save £300 million a year in 1975–76 and £500 million in 1978–79 compared with long-range estimates of defence expenditure as stated in March 1974, what will be the real savings in 1975–76 and in 1978–79, if any, compared with the £3,662 million estimated expenditure for 1974–75.

Mr. William Rodgers

Savings can be measured only in terms of actual expenditure now envisaged in a given year against previous estimates based on planned programmes. For the provisional annual totals emerging from the defence review covering 1975–76 and 1978–79 and for the savings involved, I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Worcester (Mr. Walker) on 9th December.—[Vol. 883, c. 72.]