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The Ministry of Defence's Spring Supplementary Estimate 2006-07 seeks additional provision of some £682 million. Of this, £429 million (63%) is for the additional costs of conflict prevention operations.
This report highlights the extent to which the forecast cost of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for the year 2006-07 has increased since the Winter Supplementary Estimates: from £860 million to £1,002 million for Iraq and from £540 million to £770 million for Afghanistan. Part of this increase is explained by the fact that the new operational bonus and indirect resource costs were not included in the earlier estimates, as the MoD acknowledged at the time. If those elements are set aside, the MoD's forecast of the costs of this year's operations has risen by over 10% for Iraq and by almost a third for Afghanistan. We point out that the cost of operations in Iraq is forecast to exceed last year's outturn, despite the reduced number of UK Forces in that theatre, and call on the MoD to explain this.
We draw attention also to the forecast cost of peace-keeping operations in the Balkans, which the MoD expects to be £53 million in 2006-07.
We reiterate the view expressed in earlier reports that provision for all operations should be made in the MoD's Main Estimates, rather than left to Supplementary Estimates.
The report also outlines the changes in the maximum size of the Armed Forces set out in the Votes A for the financial year 2007-08. We call on the MoD to clarify how the maxima set out in the Votes A relate to the actual strengths of the Armed Forces.
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