§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library his Department's 10-year long-term castings. [6754]
§ Dr. ReidThe Ministry of Defence's long-term costing is the process by which the Department re-costs its internal plans and adjusts them. The product of this process is not contained in any single document. It has been the policy of successive governments not to publish detailed information on the outcome of the lone term costing. The Department's internal plans represent projections and assumptions which inform advice to Ministers on the affordability of particular elements of the Defence programme. Accordingly, I am withholding the information requested, which constitutes internal discussion and advice, under exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. In addition, disclosure of some elements of this information could harm national security and international relations, prejudice the competitive position of the Department in future negotiations with contractors and reveal commercially confidential data. Accordingly, exemptions 1, 7 and 13 of the Code also apply.