§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many claims by BAE Systems for the provision of accommodation and support services for 205W overseas visitors have been endorsed since 1 January 1999 by staff of his Department's Director General of the Saudi Armed Forces Project regarding the Al-Yamamah programme; and what the value of these claims was. [175878]
§ Mr. HoonThere have been 57 BAE Systems' claims endorsed by members of the Director General of the Saudi Armed Forces Project that have included charges for the provision of accommodation and support services to Saudi service and civilian personnel on duty in the United Kingdom. The personnel involved were either attending training courses associated with the operation or maintenance of equipment supplied under the Al-Yamamah programme, or formed part of UK-based liaison teams monitoring contract performance in the logistics and training fields. The details of these claims are confidential between the two Governments, and I am therefore withholding that information under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. However, their overall value has averaged around £1.25 million annually since 1 January 1999.