§ Mr. Laurance Reedasked the Minister of State for Defence what is the current annual cost of running the Hydrographic Department of the Ministry of Defence; and what percentage of this is recovered by the sale of charts.
§ Lord BalnielThe current annual cost of running the Hydrographic Department is about £1¾ million. Receipts from sales of charts are expected to be about £1 365W million, and a further £.25 million accrues to Her Majesty's Stationery Office from the sale of navigational publications. These figures exclude the cost of the Survey Fleet.