To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost has been in the last 12 months of answering questions tabled by the hon. Member for North Durham (Mr. Jones) on the running costs of the offices and official residences of members of the Army Board and other senior Army officers; and if he will estimate the number of man hours which have been spent on this task. (143049)

We do not maintain precise records of the cost or the number of man hours involved in responding to specific questions. However, the main effort in answering the relevant questions involved a team of one senior and six junior officials who have devoted roughly 50 per cent. of their time to this task since 31 January. This equates to approximately £40,000, which falls within the disproportionate cost limit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many internal flights were taken by the Ministerial members of the Army Board in 2006; how many of these flights were with (a) military and (b) commercial carriers; and what the cost was of each flight. (143321)

Ministerial members of the Army Board undertook 25 internal flights with military carriers and 27 internal flights with commercial carriers in 2006. The cost of each internal flight is shown in the following table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contribution the offices of non-ministerial members of the Army Board are making to the savings outlined for his Department in the Gershon Review. (135613)

None. The Department's efficiency programme in response to the Gershon Review is made up of a small number of high value initiatives.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the costs of running the households of non-ministerial members of the Army Board were included in considerations of possible cost savings under the Gershon Review. (135614)

No. The Department’s efficiency programme in response to the Gershon Review is made up of a small number of high value initiatives.