Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions did the Adjutant General meet with representatives from Capita Plc between December 2009 and July 2012.

This information is not held centrally by the Department and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

It has previously been satisfactorily concluded that Lt Gen Sir Mark Mans, who would have been Adjutant General during these dates, had no dealings with Capita which would prevent him taking up an appointment with them. This appointment was approved by the office of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, with the approval letter published on Gov.uk.

It is also important to note that the award of a contract such as the Recruiting Partnering Project to Capita follows robust commercial competition, conducted over multiple years and in-line with a well-defined and assured evaluation process that would have been transparent to all those involved in the competition.