HC Deb 06 February 1985 vol 72 cc593-4W
Mr. Proctor

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the total cost of the administration of his Department, expressed in constant prices, in each of the last five years.

Mr. Butler:

The following figures are derived from a new assessment of the Department's running costs, based on the final statement of outturn, which covered only the last three financial years:

£ million (1983–84 prices throughout)
1981–82 6,316
1982–83 6,215
1983–84 6,130

These figures are significantly lower than the figures which were given to my hon. Friend in a written answer on 26 January 1984, at column 691, mainly because they exclude capital expenditure and notional expenditure such as pension costs. In order to provide a consistent basis for comparison, they also exclude Falklands-related expenditure—in 1982–83 and 1983–84—and payments made under the Property Repayment Services arrangements which were introduced on 1 April 1983.

The figures cover a much wider range of activities than those normally associated with the administration of a Department of state and include the pay and other costs of all service personnel and civilian staff. Consequently, they are not strictly comparable with the administrative costs of other Departments.