Departmental Billing
Transport
Written answers and statements, 3 June 2009
Philip Hammond (Shadow Chief Secretary To the Treasury, Treasury; Runnymede & Weybridge, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies paid in interest to suppliers under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 in the last three years for which figures are available.
Geoff Hoon (Secretary of State, Department for Transport; Ashfield, Labour)
The Department for Transport has only started to hold separate records for late payment of commercial debts since 2008-09. The interest cost for this year was £84,000. Information for the previous two years could be provided only at a disproportionate cost as the interest charge are not held separately for those years.
The following agencies have not paid interest charges in the last three years:
Government Car and Despatch Agency
Vehicle Operator Services Agency
The following agencies can provide information only at a disproportionate cost as they do not split the interest charges separately:
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency