asked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is the cost per head of the population and per average family of four persons of this year's arms estimates and of each year since 1960;(2) what is the annual increase per head of the population and per family of four persons of this year's arms estimates and of each year's arms expenditure since 1960 compared with the previous year.

Figures of expenditure on military defence for the calendar years 1960 to 1973 are set out in Table 14 of "National Income and Expenditure 1963–1973", at constant (1970) prices. On this basis a comparison can be made per head of population as follows:

Expenditure per head	(£)
1960	52·2
1961	53·4
1962	55·3
1963	54·7
1964	53·8
1965	54·0
1966	52·5
1967	54·8
1968	51·8
1969	46·5
1970	43·7
1971	43·8
1972	43·7
1973	43·1
Increase/Decrease
1960	-
1961	+1·2
1962	+1·9
1963	-0·6
1964	-0·9
1965	+0·2
1966	-1·5
1967	+2·3
1968	-3·0
1969	-5·3
1970	-2·8
1971	+0·1
1972	-0·1
1973	-0·6

Figures for families of four are not readily available over the period. The provisional total of military defence for 1974, on the same price base, is £2,355 million, or £41·9 per head of population. Information on military defence and population for 1975 on a comparable basis is not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the percentage increase in this year's arms estimates over the previous year's arms expenditure compared with the percentage increase in the cost of all goods and services in that period.

The increase at 1974 survey prices from provisional outturn, 1974–75, to Estimates, 1975–76, is 3·9 per cent. The element for inflation in the 1975–76 Estimates is 22·9 per cent. This compares with the increases in the indices of Retail and Wholesale Prices and Basic Weekly Wage Rates and Average Earnings of between 17 per cent. and 27 per cent.