HC Deb 02 February 2000 vol 343 c588W
Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the votes and subheads for the funds which cover his Department's financial contribution to BBC World Service monitoring; and if he will make a statement on their purpose. [106863]

Dr. Moonie

BBC Monitoring provides a valued information service to Government. Rapid reporting of open source information from around the world is an important aspect of the work of the MOD and other parts of Government. The MOD contribution is 40 per cent. of BBC's Monitoring funding, and is included within the expenditure shown within Class VI, Vote 1, Part II, Section J of the MOD's Supply Estimates 1999–2000, a copy of which is in the Library.