Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse has been of Ministerial severance pay in his Department in each year since 1 January 2016.

Under the Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991, eligible Ministers who leave office are entitled to a one off payment equivalent to one quarter of their annual salary at the point at which they leave Government.

This applies only where a Minister is under 65 and is not appointed to a Ministerial office within three weeks of leaving Government.