Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of invoices from small and medium-sized businesses were paid by his Department within five working days of receipt in the last 12 months for which figures are available.
David Mundell (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Scotland; Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, Conservative)
The Scotland Office endeavours to pay all suppliers within five days and does not differentiate between small, medium-sized or large businesses. Between1 June 2010and31 May 2011the Scotland Office paid 99.1% of invoices within five days.