§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was(a) the percentage and (b) the amount by which his Department's equipment budget was not foreseen (i) when projects started and (ii) when projects entered full development; and if he will supply this information for current projects and for the past five years.
§ Mr. SainsburyReliable information is not available in the form requested. Some attempts have been made to establish the degree of cost and time increase between earliest and current estimates for selected major projects, but no simple unarguable correlation exists between these figures and the total equipment budget.