To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what annual cost of depreciation is used for accounting purposes at the National Offender Management Service (NOMS); what formula is used to calculate it; and whether depreciation is accounted for as a current cost in NOMS. (181938)

The element of depreciation relating to NOMS for 2006-07 was £202.8 million. Land and buildings are valued at current value and other operational assets at open market value and depreciation is calculated on a straight line basis. Depreciation rates are based on asset lives which vary dependant upon the asset. The depreciation charge is included in NOMS’ resource expenditure, i.e. a current cost.