§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence, of the increase of £553 million in defence spending between 1978–79 and 1980–81, set out in Cmnd. 7746, how much relates to the implementation of pay increases.
§ Mr. PymNone, because the figures published for both years are on a constant price base, 1979 survey prices. As explained in paragraph 4 of the explanatory and technical notes to Cmnd. 7746, for most expenditure on goods and services these are the prices ruling in the autumn of 1978. In the specific case of wage and salary rates, they are those in force on 1 December 1978.