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Ministry of Defence

Answer

Mr. Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average daily cost has been of the occupation of Iraq. [154940] Mr. Ingram: The 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 taken into account in arriving at the net figures. Costs are not incurred on a regular daily basis and force levels have fluctuated considerably during 2003-04. As a result, to attempt to provide daily average costs would be misleading. However, you may wish to know that outturn information for 2002-03 on the cost of operations in Iraq has been published as part of the MOD's Annual Report and Accounts. Operating Costs for 2002-03 for operations in Iraq total £629.531 million. Expenditure on Capital equipment amounts to £217.680 million. The grand total is, therefore, £847.211 million. For 2003-04, funding voted at Winter Supplementary Estimates amounted to £1.2 billion and covered the cost of peacekeeping and associated Urgent Operational Requirements (UORs). The MOD has sought a further £300 million at Spring Supplementary Estimates to cover primarily the cost of the Recuperation of the Department's operational capability. Thus, the total sought in 2003-04 will be £1.5 billion. It is too early to say what costs might be incurred after 2003-04.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

418 c790-1W;418 c810W; 154940

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Costs Expenditure Iraq Reconstruction

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

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