§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total annual cost of(a) the regiments listed in his reply of 14 June, Official Report, column 326, in total and (b) the British Army as a whole.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonA figure for the total cost of the regiments and corps listed in my reply to the hon. Gentleman of 14 June is not held in the form requested and could not be obtained without disproportionate cost. The622W Ministry of Defence does not plan or account for its expenditure on a service basis and a figure giving the cost of the Army as a whole could, again, be obtained only with disproportionate effort. However, tables 2.2 and 2.3 in volume 2 of the "Statement on the Defence Estimates" provided information concerning the cost of key elements of the British Army.