Written question asked by Baroness Neville-Jones (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord West of Spithead (Labour) on Wednesday, 2 December 2009.

Counterterrorism

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much has been spent under the "Protect" strand of their counter-terrorism strategy in each year since its inception on (a) protecting Government buildings, and (b) protecting public places, including crowded places; and how much is forecast to be spent in future years.

Answer: The single security and intelligence budget, which includes government spending on counterterrorism and intelligence, was announced as part of the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review. It is forecast to rise from £2.5 billion in 2008-09 to £3.5 billion in 2010-11. The new version of the United Kingdom's Strategy for Countering International Terrorism will be delivered within this envelope. Breaking down this budget by specific counterterrorism and intelligence activities, beyond what is published already, would reveal our capabilities and details of the security and intelligence agencies’ spending. It has been the policy of successive Governments not to reveal these details. The provision of counterterrorist protective security measures has long been based upon the principle that the "user pays". However, there has been central government expenditure in respect of the "Protect" strand of the strategy and some information has been made publicly available. This includes: £5 million for 2009-10 to support regional and local delivery of work in England and Wales to improve the protection of crowded places as set out in the Government’s consultation document "Working Together to Protect Crowded Places."; £2.7 million for the period 2007-08 to 2008-09 to increase the size of the National Barrier Asset; and more than £1.5 million in 2008-09 to support additional Counter-Terrorist Security Advisers posts.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 304; 715 c41WA
Session: 2009-10
Subjects: Counter-terrorism Buildings Finance Expenditure Government departments Protection Public places
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk