Written question asked by Peter Bone (Conservative) on Tuesday, 23 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 25 March 2010. It was answered by Bob Ainsworth (Labour) on Tuesday, 30 March 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Defence: Finance

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the real term change was in the defence budget for (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2006-07 compared with the previous year.

Answer: In 2004-05 there was a real term increase on the previous year of 0.72 per cent. (2003-04 £29.08 billion up to £29.29 billion).In 2006-07 there was a real term increase on the previous year of 0.87 per cent. (2005-06 £29.97 billion up to £30.23 billion).These figures were calculated using the 'near cash' element of the Defence budget as laid out in the spending review settlements, and converted to 2008-09 prices using the HM Treasury GDP deflator.These figures do not include the net additional cost of military operations, which are not met from the Defence core budget, but funded from the Reserve.

Secondary information