Previous page | Contents | Next page
The Report of the Iraq Inquiry
MOD
FCO
DFID
Table 1: Departmental settlements, 2002/03 to 2009/10 (£bn)
2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10
28.0 29.0 29.2 29.9 30.2 30.2 30.8 31.1
1.5 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.6
3.9 4.0 4.0 4.9 5.3 5.5 5.7 6.6
23.  The Reserve is a fund held by the Treasury intended for genuinely unforeseen
contingencies which departments cannot manage from their own resources.21
24.  Sir Nicholas Macpherson told the Inquiry that the MOD was funded through its
departmental settlement to be ready for war, but not to go to war.22 The costs of going to
war – the net additional costs of military operations, or NACMO – were reclaimed by the
MOD from the Reserve.
25.  Sir Nicholas also told the Inquiry that the main call on the Reserve in relation to Iraq
had been from the MOD, to pay for NACMO.23 The Treasury had also accepted “small
claims” against the Reserve from DFID and the FCO in relation to expenditure on Iraq
that could not be met from their own resources or interdepartmental budgets.
26.  NACMO included expenditure on Urgent Operational Requirements (UORs).
UORs are urgent requirements for military equipment that arise due to the particular
demands of a specific operational threat and may need to be delivered within a shorter
period of time than is normal for defence procurement.24
27.  The table below shows the size of the Reserve from 2002/03 to 2008/09, the
percentage spent on the UK’s intervention in Iraq, and the size of the Special Reserve.25
The creation of the Special Reserve in November 2002 is described later in this Section.
Table 2: Size of the Reserve, 2002/03 to 2008/09 (£m)
Total Reserve
Of which spent on Iraq
% of Reserve spent on
Iraq
Special Reserve
(included in Total
Reserve)
2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09
2,600 4,100 3,300 3,600 3,000 3,600 4,200
847 1,456 910 958 962.5 1,458 1,381
33 35.5 28 27 32 41 33
1,000 2,500 1,200 1,000 1,100
800
–
21 Statement Macpherson, 15 January 2010, page 2.
22 Public hearing, 22 January 2010, page 2.
23 Statement, 15 January 2010, page 2.
24 Minute Treasury [junior official] to Chief Secretary, 9 January 2007, ‘Increase in the Urgent Operational
Requirements Envelope’.
25 Statement Macpherson, 15 January 2010, page 5.
450
Previous page | Contents | Next page