ir.
SECRET UK EYES A
Sudan, Nigeria, Botswana and Kuwait. During FY 90/91 over 4500 students attended
attended courses at UK military training schools. Advisory visits and STTTS, which are an especially cost- effective way of providing military advice, were deployed less frequently than normal because of the Gulf War, but have since returned to their more usual levels of activity. The overall cost of this programme to the MOD during FY 90/91 through the Defence Policy Fund (DPF) and the Defence Sales Fund (DSF) was less than £5m. This relatively modest outlay enabled us to gain valuable influence, demonstrate in a practical way our support for friendly governments and provide vital assistance for defence sales.
10.
In future, the reductions in our Armed Forces may affect out ability to continue to provide military assistance at present levels.
For example, the cuts in training establishments will reduce the number of places available for FCT students, especially on key courses at staff colleges, and it may become increasingly difficult to meet future requests for key specialist LSP. Although the future requirement for vacancies on UK courses and LSP cannot yet be forecast accurately, the overall demand is likely to remain fairly constant. It will therefore become increasingly important that the MOD's priorities for providing military assistance are carefully determined to ensure the best use is made of the resources available. The procedures, priorities and criteria for allocating places to overseas students at the RCDS and the single Service staff colleges are being reviewed and more accurate forecasting procedures are being developed for sales related training.
Military Funding
11.
During FY 90/91 the DSF provided support totalling only £509k out of a ceiling of £5m, although advance commitments were made for a total of £4.8k for the next 2 years. The expenditure during the last year of
year of barely
barely 10% of the total available reflects the strict criteria that must be satisfied before the DSF can be used. The DFF provided support amounting to £4.1m out of an annual ceiling also of £5m. This figure is less than the £4.8m achieved during FY 89/90 but was caused mainly by a reduction in requests for waivers for the Middle East, especially Jordan, during the Gulf War.
12. These figures tend to conceal the very real pressures building up for increased funds to support military assistance which stem from a number of causes:
a.
Neither the DPF nor DSF have been increased since they were introduced in 1982. Their spending power is therefore continually diminishing as LSP and course costs rise with inflation. These funds are now worth nearly 50% less than when introduced.
b.
The policy after the Gulf War to
to give greater support to the Gulf States to provide for their own defence will increase calls for DPF support. Some of
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SECRET UK EYES A
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