Departments: Ministerial Red Boxes
Defence
John Hemming (Birmingham, Yardley, Liberal Democrat)
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence
(1) how many Ministerial red boxes his Department bought in each of the last five years; and how much each cost;
(2) what tendering process is used to decide which company supplies Ministerial red boxes to his Department.
Derek Twigg (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Veterans), Ministry of Defence; Halton, Labour)
The MOD has purchased a total of 11 new ministerial red boxes over the past five years. The cost of each box purchased in each of the previous five years has been:
| Cost | |
| 2002 | One box at £585 |
| 2003 | One box at £559 |
| 2004 | Two boxes at a total cost of £916 |
| 2005 | Two boxes at £564 each |
| 2006 | Four boxes at £550 each and one box at £720. |
The MOD purchases its ministerial red boxes from Banner Business Supplies but has on exceptional occasions approached Barrow and Gale (formerly BH Leather Ltd.) directly.