To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what expenditure his Department has incurred on engaging private security companies and private military companies for work undertaken in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan in each of the last three years. (291779)

The total values of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s contracts with private security companies in Iraq and Afghanistan in each of the last three years are as follows. We do not contract with private military companies.

The figures above cover contracts put in place by London, and reflect in the main the contract values and not the expenditure. They also now include contract variations and have also been calendar-year annualised. These contracts also cover Partners Across Government with the costs thereof being shared out accordingly.