Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons his Department will not give a substantive answer to Parliamentary questions.

Ministers answer Parliamentary Questions in accordance with the Ministerial Code which states that:

"Ministers should be as open as possible with Parliament and the public, refusing to provide information only when disclosure would not be in the public interest, which should be decided in accordance with the relevant statutes and the Freedom of Information Act 2000".

In addition, Parliamentary Questions may not receive a substantive answer if the information requested is not held, if providing the answer to a written question would incur disproportionate cost, if the answer contains personal or confidential information which is not appropriate for publication or if it is not possible to respond in the time available before prorogation.