§ Mr. DicksTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he proposes any changes to the defence cash limits for 1991–92.
§ Mr. Tom KingSubject to parliamentary approval of the necessary spring supplementary estimates, the following changes will be made:
Defence cash limits £'000s Class and vote Current cash limit Change Revised cash limit I, 1 10,460,332 +130,116 10,590,448 I, 2 9,549,823 +329,257 9,879,080 I, 3 1,620,347 -4,958 1,615,389 I, 4 1,888,094 -80,737 1,807,357 I, 5 513,918 +18,371 532,289 These changes increase the block defence cash limit by £392,049,000 from £24,032,514,000 to £24,424,563,000. They are principally to cover increased expenditure arising from the United Kingdom military commitment in the Gulf. The total increase this year is thus about £1.5 billion which is in line with the announcement made by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 18 April 1991, Official Report, at column 558.
The changes also take account of a transfer of provision from class I, votes 3, 4 and 5 to cover forecasts of increased expenditure on class I, vote 1 and a decrease of £71,211,000 to compensate for an overspend on class I, votes 1, 4 and 5 in financial year 1990–91. This follows the normal practice of reducing the limit for one year by the amount of any overspend in the previous year.
The increase in defence provision for 1991–92 will be charged to the reserve and it will therefore not add to the planned total of public expenditure. The increase will be largely offset by the generous cash contributions from other Governments received this financial year in respect of the United Kingdom military commitment in the Gulf.