asked the Secretary of State for Defence what was his Department's total procurement expenditure in each year since 1979; and how much was spent in the following regions in England: (a) West Yorkshire and Humberside, (b) the east midlands, (c) the west midlands, (d) East Anglia, (e) the south-west, (f) the south-east and (g) the north-west and in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Ministry's equipment procurement expenditure in each financial year since 1979–80 is as follows:

	£ million
1979–80	4,017
1980–81	5,324
1981–82	6,121
1982–83	6,815
1983–84	7,504
1984–85	8,573
1985–86	8,979

Estimates of equipment expenditure by region are only available from 1983–84. Figures, to the nearest £0·1 billion, for the areas specified are as follows:

£ billion
	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86
Yorkshire and Humberside1	0·1	0·2	0·2
East Midlands	0·3	0·3	0·3
West Midlands	0·2	0·3	0·3
East Anglia	0·2	0·2	0·2
South West	0·9	0·8	0·9
North West	1·0	1·1	1·0
Scotland	0·4	0·4	0·4
Wales	0·1	0·1	0·2
Northern Ireland	0·1	—	0·1
—less than £50 million.
1 Figures for West Yorkshire and Humberside are not available.