§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many times in each month of the current year he has met personally the heads of the agencies which report to him to discuss the work of those agencies. [39854]
§ Mr. Arbuthnot[holding answer 1 November 1995]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's ownership responsibilities for the 23 defence agencies are usually discharged in the first instance by a designated officer or official in the Department or one of the service commands. Meetings between Ministers and defence agency chief executives occur infrequently, when the nature of the business requires it.