To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Christmas trees were purchased by his Department and its agencies in each of the last five years; what the cost was of those trees in each year; from where the trees were sourced; what account was taken of the sustainability of the sources of the trees; and by what process the trees were disposed of. (305638)

MOD building decorations including Christmas trees are paid for from non-public funds or staff subscription. The exception was the contracted-out facilities management services for Main Building and Old War Office Building in Whitehall, which did include an annual £5,000 provision for Christmas decorations. This was subsequently removed from the contract in 2008.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has budgeted for Christmas trees in 2009. (306689)

Decorations in MOD buildings including Christmas trees are not paid for from public funds but are paid for from non-public funds or staff subscription.