To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 20 May 2009, Official Report, column 1411W, on departmental billing, how much his Department’s non-departmental public bodies spent in interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 in the last three years. (282330)

This is an operational matter for the non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) of the Northern Ireland Office, which operate independently of Government. I would encourage the hon. Gentleman to write to the NDPB chief executives.

A list of these NDPBs is available on page 7 of the Northern Ireland Office departmental report, published in June 2009.