Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the underspend of the Ministry of Defence in the financial years 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14 and prospectively in 2014–15; and how much of the underspend in each of those years has been rolled forward and made available for additional spending by the Ministry of Defence in subsequent years.

Comparable figures for financial year 2010-11 are not available as the Government had not, at that time, introduced The Clear of Line Sight initiative, which precludes analysis on a near cash basis for that financial year.

In 2011-12 the Ministry of Defence (MOD) underspent by £300 million and there was no budget exchange.

In 2012-13 the MOD underspent by £2.3 billion; £590 million was rolled forward into 2013-14, £1,706 million into 2014-15 and £21 million in 2015-16.

In 2013-14 the MOD underspent by £900 million, £100 million was rolled forward into 2014-15 and £700 million in 2015-16.

The MOD's final outturn for 2014-15 will not be available until the end of the financial year.