To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the purpose is of the Defence Export Services organisation; what its net cost was in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [95794]

The purpose of the Defence Export Services Organisation (DESO) is to support legitimate defence exports, co-ordinating Government assistance to United Kingdom defence exporters and overseas customers interested in acquiring United Kingdom defence products.The net operating costs of DESO and related support functions over the last five financial years are as follows:

Financial Year	£ million
1997–98	14.380
1998–99	16.010
1999–2000	13.735
2000–01	12.360
2001–02	11.007

These costs are more than offset by financial benefits to the Defence budget arising from DESO's activities including economies of scale generated by exports for the Ministry of Defence's own procurement.