§ Baroness Northoverasked Her Majesty's Government:
How much they plan to spend in Iraq in 2004; how much they have spent in 2003 so far; and whether they will provide a breakdown of expenditures in each of these years, including the proportion spent on military operations and the proportion spent on civil reconstruction. [HL4706]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Lord Mclntosh of Haringey)As the Chancellor said in his 2003 Budget statement, "I can confirm that I have set aside £3 billion, in a special reserve available to the Ministry of Defence so that our troops continue to be properly equipped and given the resources that they deserve and have a right to expect." (House of CommonsOfficial Report, 9 April 2003, col. 271).
It is too early to provide total costs of the military campaign in Iraq. However, the Ministry of Defence estimate for the preparatory phase, up to the point when military operations began, is around £700 million.
At the donors' conference on Iraq, in Madrid on 24 October, the UK will make a total financial commitment towards Iraq's reconstruction of £544 million for the three years from April 2003, including the funding that we have provided so far and our share of proposed European Community spending in Iraq.
183WA£248 million is for humanitarian and reconstruction assistance already committed by DfID and other government departments, £9 million of which is our share of the EC commitment, and £296 million will be for the period up to March 2006, £29 million of which is our share of currently proposed EC spending.