Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an estimate of the number of hours spent (a) responding to and (b) preparing for Westminster Hall Debates by (i) government ministers, (ii) civil servants and (iii) special advisers in his Department for each parliamentary session for which the information is available.

It is not possible to provide information on the number of hours spent for preparing Ministers, civil servants and special advisers to respond to Westminster Hall Debates. There will be differences in the time spent depending on the policy matter and length of the debate. Debates can also be cross-cutting and require resources from multiple departments or engage departmental bodies.