§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many times in the last 10 years, and on which dates, his departmental accounting officer has issued a minute in that role; and what was the issue in each case. [22567]
§ Mr. SoamesWhere a Minister overrules an accounting officer's advice on an issue of propriety or regularity or one of value for money, the accounting officer should request a written instruction from the Minister to take the action in question.
Cases in which such an instruction has been issued were set out in my answers to the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (Mr. Rowlands) on 10 March 1994, Official Report, column 401, and to the hon. Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark) on 22 March 1994, Official Report, column 174, and in the statement by my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 9 March 1995, Official Report, columns 459–60.