§ Mr. MacCormickasked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total amount spent by the Ministry of Defence 41W in Scotland in the period 1974–75; and what proportion this represents of his Department's total expenditure.
§ Dr. GilbertFirm figures are not available, since defence expenditure is not accounted for on a regional basis. We do, however, make a broad assessment annually of the initial incidence of expenditure. This can take no account of the final distribution of expenditure in contracts let to firms in one area which are sub-contracted to other areas. It would involve a disproportionate expense to judge the extent of this sort of movement between regions.
Subject to this major reservation, the approximate figure for 1974–75 was £300 million. This represented about 6 per cent. of the total expenditure on defence for that year.