To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what the total cost to the public purse was of each of the contracts between BAe Systems and his Department in each of the last five years; (141313)

Central records indicate the Ministry of Defence currently has some 785 separate direct contracts in place with BAE Systems. These are listed in an extensive table which I have placed in the Library of the House. The number excludes small-value local purchase orders, contracts placed on behalf of other nations and other Government departments and those where BAE Systems is a subcontractor or a member of an industry consortium. The approximate value of each contract is indicated in the table placed in the Library by reference to a value band.

The combined value of the 785 contracts, as at 8 June 2007, was some £24,893 million. I am withholding the precise value of individual contracts and the total cost to the public purse as its release would, or would be likely to, prejudice commercial interests. The scale of total payments made to major BAE Systems divisions over the past five financial years on all direct contracts, as published by the Defence Analytical Services Agency, is shown in the table.