§ The Earl of Sandwichasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the estimated cost of United Kingdom personnel who are continuing the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; and how this compares with the cost of personnel engaged in reconstruction. [HL3950]
§ Lord BachThe Ministry of Defence identifies the costs of operations in terms of the net additional costs it has incurred. The costs that the department would have incurred regardless of the operation taking place such as wages and salaries are not included. Savings on activities that have not occurred because of the operation—training exercises for example—are deducted from the total costs of the operation.
Neither the net additional costs incurred by United Kingdom personnel engaged in the search for WMD in Iraq, nor the net additional costs of those engaged in reconstruction can he differentiated from the total net additional cost of UK personnel deployed to the Gulf region. For example, stock accounting records will identify the recipient of stock as entitled UK military personnel, not whether they are engaged in reconstruction work or in the search for WMD. It is therefore not possible to identify costs related solely to the WMD search team.