§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the adjustments to in-year expenditure to remain within his Department's expenditure limits for the current year, showing in each case(a) what action is being taken and (b) what savings will be made. [137724]
§ Mr. IngramAs my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence made clear in the debate on Defence Policy on 16 October 2003, Departments have to deal with fluctuating financial pressures while living within their budgets. This year the Ministry of Defence is facing, among other factors, better than expected recruiting and adverse exchange rate movements. The introduction this year of full Resource Accounting and Budgeting has also raised new issues. We are therefore making a range of mostly relatively small adjustments to previous expenditure plans across the Ministry of Defence's budgetary areas. These include reduction in training activities where this is not essential to sustain operations, and re-profiling some spending on new equipments and equipment support. These adjustments do not affect our commitment to operations in Iraq and elsewhere, the net additional costs of which are funded separately.