§ Mr. Wattsasked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the value of contracts placed by his Department with small businesses in each of the financial years since 1978–79; and what percentage of total expenditure on purchases of goods and services those amounts represented.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[pursuant to his reply, 18 April 1986, c. 523]: For the years 1983–84 and 1984–85 payments by my Department directly to small firms for purchases of goods and services, and the percentages of total expenditure which these purchases represent are as follows:
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1983–84 expenditure 1984–85 expenditure £ million Percentage £ million Percentage Firms with up to 50 employees 307 4.8 315 4.4 Firms with up to 200 employees 787 12.2 827 11.5 This information was not collected before 1983–84 and the figures for 1985–86 are not yet available. These figures take no account of the significant amount of work awarded to small firms on a sub-contract basis.
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