Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) annual and (b) total cost has been of the contract between his Department and ATOC Ltd for the HM Armed Forces Railcard; and when this contract will expire.

The HM Forces Railcard scheme is essentially self-funding, with no direct cost to the public purse. The contract, which was set up in March 1999, is an open-ended enabling arrangement.