Asked by: Lord Burnett (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any recent reductions in the total number of personnel employed by (1) the Royal Navy, (2) the Army, and (3) the Royal Air Force, have been matched by a corresponding reduction in Government funding provided to that service; and if so, whether any such funding has been reallocated to another branch of the Armed Forces.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Ministry of Defence's annual budget cycle allocates resources to the single Services and other parts of the Department on the basis of what they need to deliver defence policy, including the number of military and civilian personnel they require.
Under the Department's delegated budgetary model, budget holders have the freedom to reallocate funding to take account of changes in costs, requirements and priorities that emerge during the course of the financial year.
Asked by: Lord Burnett (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the annual budgets of the Royal Marines for each financial year from 2014–15 to 2019–20; whether those budgets include a proportion of the UK Special Forces budget; and if so whether those payments are spent exclusively on Special Forces personnel, training and operations.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Armed Services operate as fully integrated joint organisations in which elements from the Royal Navy, the Army, the Royal Air Force, and the Royal Marines all work closely together and share buildings, facilities, and sometimes equipment. A joined-up approach is vital to delivering the capability enhancements outlined in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review. However, the consequent integrated budgetary structure means that it is not possible to state accurately what the Spending Review settlement means for individual services in a particular financial year (FY).
As is standard practice, we do not comment on the operations of the Special Forces.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is split into six Top Level Budget areas including Navy Command, Army Command and Air Command. The following information shows the net Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) outturn (resource and capital) for the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force Top Level Budget areas in FYs 2014-15 and 2015-16.
Net DEL outturn by Top Level Budget (reviewed as forecast against budget by the Defence Board during the year) | Restated 2014-15* (£000) | 2015-16 (£000) |
Royal Navy | 2,361,787 | 2,506,976 |
Army | 6,402,314 | 6,553,188 |
Royal Air Force | 2,416,171 | 2,509,289 |
*During the last two years a new organisation, Information Systems and Services, has been formed (by combining internal MOD branches) to deliver information capabilities to the Department. The new organisation is part of Joint Force Command and comparator year figures have been restated to reflect the reorganisation which mainly impacted Defence Equipment and Support and Joint Forces Command.
Annual budgets for each Top Level Budget area are determined depending on capability requirements and priorities. Forecasts of near cash expenditure against budgets are regularly reviewed and revised by the Defence Board in-year, when considering performance and resource allocation. It is not possible to accurately state the annual performance of individual Top Level Budget areas, or what their control totals will be in future years.
Asked by: Lord Burnett (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the annual budgets for (1) the Royal Navy, (2) the Royal Air Force, and (3) the Army, for each financial year from 2014–15 to 2019–20; and whether any of those budgets for the years to 2016–17 were underspent.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Armed Services operate as fully integrated joint organisations in which elements from the Royal Navy, the Army, the Royal Air Force, and the Royal Marines all work closely together and share buildings, facilities, and sometimes equipment. A joined-up approach is vital to delivering the capability enhancements outlined in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review. However, the consequent integrated budgetary structure means that it is not possible to state accurately what the Spending Review settlement means for individual services in a particular financial year (FY).
As is standard practice, we do not comment on the operations of the Special Forces.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is split into six Top Level Budget areas including Navy Command, Army Command and Air Command. The following information shows the net Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) outturn (resource and capital) for the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force Top Level Budget areas in FYs 2014-15 and 2015-16.
Net DEL outturn by Top Level Budget (reviewed as forecast against budget by the Defence Board during the year) | Restated 2014-15* (£000) | 2015-16 (£000) |
Royal Navy | 2,361,787 | 2,506,976 |
Army | 6,402,314 | 6,553,188 |
Royal Air Force | 2,416,171 | 2,509,289 |
*During the last two years a new organisation, Information Systems and Services, has been formed (by combining internal MOD branches) to deliver information capabilities to the Department. The new organisation is part of Joint Force Command and comparator year figures have been restated to reflect the reorganisation which mainly impacted Defence Equipment and Support and Joint Forces Command.
Annual budgets for each Top Level Budget area are determined depending on capability requirements and priorities. Forecasts of near cash expenditure against budgets are regularly reviewed and revised by the Defence Board in-year, when considering performance and resource allocation. It is not possible to accurately state the annual performance of individual Top Level Budget areas, or what their control totals will be in future years.
Asked by: Lord Burnett (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the estimated savings in (1) manpower, and (2) cash, of the cuts proposed for the Royal Marines.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The changes planned to the size and structure of the Royal Marines will allow approximately 200 positions to be re-allocated within the Naval Service. These changes are expected to be broadly cost neutral within the overall headcount of the Naval Service.