To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 13 December 2007, Official Report, column 774W, on Defence Equipment and Support Organisation: finance, what the reasons are for the difference between the expenditure figure provided against financial year 2006-07 and that declared on the home page of the Defence Equipment and Support Organisation’s website. (180318)

[holding answer 21 January 2008]: The rounded £16,000 million annual budget figure for financial year 2006-07, as shown on the Defence Equipment and Support Organisation’s website, encompasses both equipment and non-equipment resource expenditure. This includes manpower, overhead costs and indirect non-cash resource costs such as cost of capital charges on assets and depreciation.

The figure of £12,130 million for financial year 2006-07, as detailed in my answer of 13 December 2007, Official Report, column 774W, was for spend on equipment programmes only, including expenditure on all equipment additions, equipment support (including Stock Consumption and Post Design Services), PFI Service Charges and IT and Communications.