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Ministry of Defence

Answer

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total daily expenditure on (a) regular and (b) reserve forces stationed in Iraq is; and what the total expenditure on the maintenance of British forces in Iraq would be between 1 September and 31 March 2004 if spending were to continue at the current rate. [128818] Mr. Ingram: The Ministry of Defence identifies the costs of Operations in terms of the net additional costs it has incurred. The costs, which the MOD would have incurred had the operation not been undertaken-- expenditure on wages and salaries or on conducting training exercises, for example--are deducted from the total costs of the operation. Accounting records and costs are not maintained on a daily basis and to provide such an average would be misleading. The net additional costs of Reserve and Regular force personnel are not kept separately. Maintenance costs for the force includes stock consumption and impairment of fixed assets. These costs continue to be the subject of study and audit by the National Audit Office as does their proper allocation to financial years 2002-03 and 2003-04. I will write to the hon. Member when robust estimates are available and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House. This is unlikely to be before publication of the Departmental Resource Accounts.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

128818; 410 c360-1W;410 c400-1W

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Armed forces Expenditure Iraq Public expenditure Peacekeeping operations Reserve forces Reconstruction

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk