§ Mr. Simon ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost is to QinetiQ of its sponsorship of the QinetiQ1 manned space balloon. [60614]
§ Dr. MoonieAlthough QinetiQ is currently owned by the Ministry of Defence, the sponsorship of the QinetiQ1 manned balloon altitude record attempt is a commercial activity undertaken by the company, and no defence funding is committed to this venture. For commercial reasons the company has chosen not to put the cost of their participation in QinetiQ1 into the public domain, and therefore I am withholding the information requested under Exemption 13 of the code of practice on access to government information, which relates to the maintenance of commercial confidences.