Written question asked by Nick Harvey (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 18 December 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 7 January 2008. It was answered by Derek Twigg (Labour) on Wednesday, 9 January 2008 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Art Works

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on art work in each year since 2001 (a) in total and (b) for its London headquarters.

Answer: The sum of £232,000 (excluding VAT) was spent on purchasing works of art in 2004-05 for the London headquarters of the Ministry of Defence. No other works of art have been purchased since 2001 for the London building.The Meteorological Office—a Trading Fund of the Ministry of Defence—spent £279,092 on works of art for its new building in Exeter in 2003 and 2004.Accurate information on expenditure on art in other Defence Agencies, Top Level Budget areas, Trading Funds, Joint Headquarters, single Service Commands and military units is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Secondary information