HC Deb 19 February 1998 vol 306 cc840-2W
Mr. Swinney

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many contracts of a value greater than £10,000 his Department has with companies in(a) London, (b) South East England, (c) England, (d) Scotland, (e)Wales and (f)Northern Ireland; and what is the total value of such contracts for each area. [30073]

Mr. Spellar

[holding answer 18 February 1998]: The information requested is not available in precisely the format requested. The number and value of current prime contracts valued in excess of £10,000 in Financial Year 1996–97 in the following locations is listed below:

Number of contracts
Value of contracts (£)
(a) London 4,122 3,010,656,875
(b) the South East of England 13,337 24,966,057,325
(c) England 44,340 62,777,373,141
(d) Scotland 3,036 3,191,535,617
(e) Wales 1,142 511,535,442
(f) Northern Ireland 342 564,437,755

This information should be regarded as indicative as it relates only to current defence prime contracts valued in excess of £10,000 in Financial Year 1996–97. It does not include defence sub-contracts or contracts placed by Trading Fund Defence Agencies as this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Swinney

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the number of current research contracts of a value greater than £10,000 sourced at sites in(a) London, (b) the South East of England, (c) England, (d) Scotland, (e)Wales, and (f)Northern Ireland; and what is the forecast expenditure on such projects in each area. [30129]

Mr. Spellar

[holding answer 18 February 1998]: The information requested is not available in precisely the format requested. The number of current research contracts valued in excess of £10,000 in Financial Year 1996–97 in the following locations are listed:

Number of contracts
(a) London 105
(b) The South East of England 330
(c) England 844
(d) Scotland 36
(e) Wales 5
(f) Northern Ireland 2

This information should be regarded as indicative as it relates only to extant defence research prime contracts valued in excess of £10,000 in Financial Year 1996–97. It does not include defence sub-contracts or contracts placed by Trading Fund Defence Agencies, except for the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, as this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Information regarding the forecast expenditure on such research projects in each area is not held centrally. However, the latest figures available from the Defence Analytical Services Agency for the breakdown of defence research and development expenditure by region are contained in Section 1.6 of the UK Defence Statistics 1997, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.

Mr. Swinney

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many companies based in(a) London, (b) the South East of England, (c) England, (d) Scotland, Wales and (f)Northern Ireland currently supply his Department with armaments; and what was the value of such supplies in each area in the last year for which figures are available. [30130]

Mr. Spellar

[holding answer 18 February 1998]: The information requested is not available precisely in the form requested. The number of defence contractors with current prime contracts in the following locations in Financial Year 1996–97 is as in the table:

No of contractors
(a) London 1,526
(b) The South East of England 3,492
(c) England 10,518
(d) Scotland 1,022
(e) Wales 427
(f) Northern Ireland 105

This information should, however, be regarded as indicative as it relates only to extant prime contracts with defence contractors in Financial Year 1996–97. It does not include defence sub-contracts or contracts placed by Trading Fund Defence Agencies as this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The latest figures available for the value of suppliers in each area are for the Financial Year 1995–96 and are contained in Section 1.9 of the UK Defence Statistics 1997, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.