§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the expenditure by(a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies on (i) tax consultants and (ii) other external tax advice in (1) 1995–96, (2) 1996–97 and (3) 1997–98; and if he will make a statement. [13265]
§ Dr. Reid[holding answer 5 November 1997]Spending on tax consultants and other external tax advice was as follows:
(£ pounds) Ministry of Defence (excluding agencies) Defence agencies NDPBs 1995–96 — 27,450 1,175 1996–97 5,500 35,790 1,175 1997–98 (to date) — 8,130 90 The following expenditure is anticipated 1997–98 4,500 — 1,085 These figures exclude tax advice obtained by defence contractors and as part of wider consultancies, which could not be extracted without disproportionate cost.
"Defence Agencies" includes all spending by the Ships Support Agency which became an Agency on 11 December 1996.