Written question asked by Gordon Prentice (Labour) on Tuesday, 20 March 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 22 March 2007. It was answered by Adam Ingram (Labour) on Wednesday, 18 April 2007 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Armed Forces: Uniforms

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of supplying dress uniforms to officers in the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Royal Air Force and (c) Army in the last year for which figures are available.

Answer: Royal Navy and Royal Air Force dress uniforms are provided by a ‘supply fit’ contract which means units raise demands directly with the supplier to provide and fit uniforms at specific locations. Due to the nature of this contract, it is not possible to provide information on how many dress uniforms were supplied as this information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The approximate cost of the unit is £135.00.Army officers are given an outfit allowance, with which to purchase all their uniform requirements, and this varies from regiment to regiment. The majority of grants will be around £2,100.00 it is not possible to separate out the costs of dress uniforms from this.

Secondary information