§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total cost to his Department was for accountancy services in 2002. [101561]
§ Mr. IngramMinistry of Defence expenditure on external assistance (EA), of which accountancy services are a part, is contained in the MOD's annual return of expenditure on external assistance. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House, covering the period 1996–97 to 2000–01 and include expenditure categorised by top level budget holder and trading funds. However, expenditure on accountancy services is not recorded as a specific category of EA and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The return for 2001–02 will be published shortly and figures for 2002–03 will be published once the current financial year has ended.