To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was his Department's budget in cash terms and at 1998–99 prices for (a) 1992–93 to 1998–99 and (b) his estimate for 1999–2000 to 2001–02. [77334]

The information requested is as follows:

£ million
Year	Cash	1998–99 prices
1992–93	22,910	26,587
1993–94	22,757	25,726
1994–95	22,562	25,146
1995–96	21,517	23,303
1996–97	22,345	23,476
1997–98	21,610	22,151
1998–99	22,549	22,549
1999–00	22,280	21,737
2000–01	22,815	21,716
2001–02	22,972	21,332

The figures for 1992–93 through to 1997–98 reflect outturn adjusted to take account of major definitional changes in defence spending and of major transfers of responsibility to and from other Government Departments. The figures for 1996–97 and 1997–98 exclude the element of receipts arising from the sale of the married quarters estate in England and Wales that were appropriated onto Defence Votes. The figures for 1998–99 is the estimated outturn that underlay the Spring Supplementary Estimates. The totals shown for 1999–2000 to 2001–2002 are the Ministry of Defence's Departmental Expenditure Limits. These differ slightly from the figures published in the Comprehensive Spending Review (Cm 4011) and the Strategic Defence Review (Cm 3999) White Papers last July, and more recently in the Ministry of Defence's Public Service Agreement (which forms part of "Public Service for the Future: Modernisation, Reform and Accountability" (Cm 4181, December 1998)) because of adjustments arising from Public Expenditure Systems transfers to other Government departments.Further details of the Ministry of Defence's expenditure plans will be published in "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1999–2000 to 2001–2002" (Cm 4208) on 26 March 1999.