§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his reply of 23 April to the hon. Member for Rhondda (Mr. Rogers),Official Report, column 241, if he will give the reason for the absence of complete records of his Department's dealings with companies between 1983 and 1990.
§ Mr. AitkenOur central on-line computer records will identify all contracts placed before but not completed by 31 March 1990, and all contracts placed since 1 April 1990. Central records of contracts placed since 1983 but completed by 31 March 1990 have been archived on to magnetic tape and are not available on-line. Identification and checking of the tapes could be carried out only at disproportionate cost.
The hon. Member for Rhondda (Mr. Rogers) asked about one specific company; it was possible to identify one directorate within my Department which seemed most likely to have dealt with the company, and its detailed local records identified just one contract.