Written question asked by Nick Harvey (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 18 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 22 March 2010. It was answered by Lord Beamish (Labour) on Monday, 29 March 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Departmental Security

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many valid civilian passes granting access to his Department's London buildings have been issued to employees of private defence companies in the last 12 months.

Answer: Records show that in the last 12 months, there were 137 passes issued to employees of companies identified by us as ““private defence companies””. We have defined ““private defence companies”” as those we can readily identify as being primarily suppliers of weapon systems or defence materiel to the Department.These passes only allow access to MOD Head Office (Main Building, Old War Office and St. George's Court) and are issued to individuals who hold appropriate security clearances, have a genuine business need to regularly visit one of these London Offices and have been sponsored by a Head Office Business Unit. Figures are not held centrally for passes issued in respect of other MOD London buildings.

Secondary information