HC Deb 19 June 1985 vol 81 c155W
Mr. Warren

asked the Secretary of State for Defence which laboratories within his Department, or within bodies for which he is responsible, have had their research budgets reduced in this financial year; what is the financial value of the reduction; what is this figure expressed as a percentage of the total work carried out in the laboratory; and which of the laboratories for which he is responsible are being considered for privatisation.

Mr. Butler

[pursuant to his reply, 18 June 1985]: It is not our practice to publish the financial allocations made to individual research establishments; but the priorities which determine the allocations of funds between different technologies and programmes vary from year to year. The overall defence research budget for 1985–86 is £383 million, or some 3 per cent. greater than the 1984–85 budget of £371 million. As regards the last part of my hon. Friends's question, the evaluation of research and project support reqirements and how they are met is a continuing process.