asked Her Majesty's Government:
How much has been spent on urgent operational requirements in each of the past five full financial years; how much was claimed back to the reserves by the Treasury in each year; and what are the estimated equipment support costs going forward for purchases in each of those years. [HL256]
The cost of urgent operational requirements (UORs) approved for the last five years is shown in the table below.
Financial Year Approval cost 2002-03 £500 million 2003-04 £180 million 2004-05 £130 million 2005-06 £260 million 2006-07 £790 million Total £1.86 billion
UORs funded from the reserve are not subject to repayment. Support costs for UORs are funded separately by the reserve as net additional costs of military operations; we do not hold centrally support costs by individual UOR.
Occasionally, existing funded programmes in the MoD's forward equipment plan are brought forward for operational reasons, and are subject to repayment.