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Ministry of Defence: Annual Report and Accounts 2004–05

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (John Reid) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement. On 28 October I published the Ministry of Defence's annual report and accounts 2004–05. It combines the department's annual performance report and departmental resource accounts in a single document that provides a comprehensive overview of the MoD's financial and non-financial performance. For the second successive year the Comptroller and Auditor-General has approved the accounts without qualification. The report shows that once again the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence delivered what they were required and resourced to do during a busy and challenging year. It reflects the broad and diverse range of operations and tasks undertaken during the year, and the Armed Forces and Ministry of Defence's continuing vision of being a force for good in the world. It also details the sizeable progress the Ministry of Defence has made towards achieving the efficiency targets set by Her Majesty's Treasury in the 2002 and 2004 Spending Reviews, and the considerable progress already made in delivering the capabilities and reformed force structure set out in the July 2004 Command Paper Delivering Security in a Changing World: Future Capabilities. Copies of the annual report and accounts have been placed in the Library of the House. It is also available online from the department's internet site at www.mod.uk.