Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of hiring external consultants to aid with defence procurement in the latest period for which figures are available.

Ministry of Defence (MOD) expenditure on external consultancy is published as part of Defence Departmental Resources statistics. Details of expenditure by category for each year up to 2012-13 is included in Table 1.03.09 'MOD Expenditure on External Assistance': https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/defence-departmental-resources-2013.

The total figure is also published in the MOD Annual Report and Accounts (Table 7.1): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mod-annual-report-and-accounts-201213.

Details of expenditure for 2013-14 will be published in accordance with statutory obligations.