§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of(a) Beating the Retreat and (b) Trooping the Colour for each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [128787]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 3 July 2000]: Costs were not collected for the Queen's Birthday Parade (Trooping the Colour) and Beating the Retreat until 1996 and were not identified separately until this year. The total costs between 1996 and 1999 were:
£ 1996 33,400 1997 34,300 1998 35,200 1999 36,000 For this year, the cost of the Queen's Birthday Parade was £31,200 and for Beating the Retreat £7,420, giving a total of £38,620.