HC Deb 16 March 1994 vol 239 c748W
Dr. Lynne Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the purpose of the Defence Export Services Organisation; and what its annual expenditure was in each of the last five years.

Mr. Aitken

The Defence Export Services Organisation exists to help British defence manufacturers market and sell their products abroad, within the parameters laid down by Government policy, and to dispose of surplus MOD equipment. The net cost of the organisation in 1993–94 is expected to be some £16.3 million. Changes in accounting conventions make exact comparisons with earlier years difficult.