§ Mr. HesfordTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence where the overseas offices of the Defence Export Services Organisation are situated; if he will list for each office(a) the date it was established, (b) the number of staff currently employed there and (c) the running cost in the last year for which figures are available. [24837]
§ Mr. SpellarDESO offices are located overseas are as follows:
Date established Number of staff Budget 1997–98 (£000) Australia 1989 2 106 Brunei 1995 2 104 Germany 1991 16 340 India 1984 5 49.5 Indonesia 1991 3 190 Kuwait1 1988 9 149 Malaysia 1986 4.5 172 Philippines 1997 3 213 Saudi Arabia2 1985 99.5 104 South Korea 1988 2 108.8 Thailand 1992 2.5 110 Turkey 1988 1 74 1 Six staff are employed in the Kuwait Programme Office and are funded by the Customer. 2 97 staff are employed on the A1 Yamamah programme and are funded by the customer.
§ Mr. HesfordTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the total administrative cost of the Defence Export Services Organisation in(a) 1994–95 and (b) 1996–97. [24839]
§ Mr. SpellarThe net running cost of operating the Defence Export Services Organisation in my Department was £10.94 million in Financial Year 1994–95 and £16.61 million in Financial Year 1996–97.
During this latter year, the organisation generated some £84.4 million from sales of surplus military equipment. Additionally, as a result of overseas orders, the Department annually secures around £50 million in Commercial Exploitation Levies and saves around £344 million on its own procurement costs by spreading overheads over higher levels of production. DESO therefore earns benefits for the taxpayer that far outweigh these costs.