§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 16 February,Official Report, column 828, what factors led to the delay of 12 months between giving incorrect information to the hon.
337WMember for South Shields and the admission that this information was incorrect; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. SoamesThe answer given by the then Minister of State for the Armed Forces, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond and Barnes (Mr. Hanley), to the hon. Member on 9 February 1994,Official Report, columns 362–63, was based on the information available at the time. The corrected figure given to the hon. Member for Dorset, West (Sir J. Spicer) on 4 July 1994, Official Report, column 85, emerged from an audit examination then only very recently completed.
§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 16 February,Official Report, column 830, on what precise date his Department was informed of allegations concerning expenditure at the official residence known as Haymes Garth; and from where these allegations originated.
§ Mr. SoamesThe matter was first raised in a letter from a member of the public forwarded by an hon. Member on 22 June 1993. No precise location was mentioned, but it emerged that Haymes Garth was intended.
Dr. David ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 16 February,Official Report, column 830, what action his Department took in response to allegations made in the summer of 1993 concerning expenditure at the official residence known as Haymes Garth.
§ Mr. SoamesA full report was commissioned from RAF Support Command, in the light of which a decision was taken to set in motion an internal audit investigation.