§ Mr. Menzies CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will list the programmes earmarked under the Ministry of Defence alternative assumptions budget; and what is the estimated cost of each programme; [72196]
(2) if he will list the programmes earmarked in the Ministry of Defence alternative assumptions budget in the years (a) 1997–1998 and (b) 1998–1999 indicating how many of these programmes have been actioned. [72195]
302W
Year RN Army RAF 1994 Expogast Luxembourg Hotelympia Gold Medal—Hot Buffet 2 Gold Medals Silver Medal 8 Silver Medals Gold Medal in Wedding Cake 9 Bronze Medals Hotelympia National Chef of the Year La Parade de Chefs—Gold Medal and overall winners 18 Senior and Junior open awards 1995 Hotelympia Heart of England—Birmingham 11 Gold Medals 5 Gold Medals 8 Silver Medals 5 Silver Medals 24 Bronze Medals 5 Bronze Medals 3 Best in Class Trophies
§ Mr. George RobertsonThe Ministry of Defence does not have an alternative assumptions budget. Alternative assumptions are part of the department's Long Term Costing (LTC) process and provide the mechanism by which possible changes to the core Defence programme can be costed and assessed.
The LTC represents projections which inform internal advice to Ministers on the affordability of the defence programme. It has been the policy of successive Administrations that such advice should not be disclosed, consistent with Exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.