To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list each private sector consultancy firm which has been retained by each agency within his Department, and for his Department as a whole, for the purposes of advising on the market testing programme; and whether the appointment in each case was the result of competitive tendering.

Two experienced private sector consultants are currently retained to advise on the market testing programmes of the Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Departments. As their work involves them in the security field I do not wish to identify them by name but I can confirm that they were appointed after competitive tendering.