Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to help small businesses deal with late payments.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
While the UK has a strong record of payment times, we are determined to see payment times fall to ensure that small businesses are given the best chance of succeeding. The Government set out policy actions in the Prompt Payment and Cash Flow which was published alongside the Autumn Statement in November 2023. These actions include extending Payment Performance Reporting Regulations with legislation being passed earlier this month, ensuring that large businesses are required to report their payment performance. The Review sets out other actions, including reforming the Prompt Payment Code and providing the Small Business Commissioner with broader powers.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average time a business waits for the payment of an invoice from the Ministry of Defence.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As per Cabinet Office guidance, the Ministry of Defence aims to pay 90% of all undisputed and validated invoices for Small to Medium Enterprises within 5 days of receipt. Additionally, MoD is committed that 100% of all undisputed and validated invoices should be paid within 30 days.
Ministry of Defence reports its supplier payment performance, invoice processing and MoD contract payments in line with statutory requirements and reports its results quarterly at GOV.UK Ministry of Defence supplier invoicing and payment information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Table below shows results for financial year 2023-2024 by quarter. Financial year runs from April 2023 to March 2024.
Ministry of Defence payment performance | ||
2023-2024 | ||
Financial year | Percentage of invoices paid | Percentage of invoices paid |
First Quarter | 94.13% | 99.24% |
Second Quarter | 94.08% | 99.29% |
Third Quarter | 87.35% | 99.25% |
[1] This includes all suppliers not just Small to Medium Enterprises
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average time a business waits for the payment of an invoice from the Department for Transport.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
For the 23-24 Financial Year thus far, the average time a business waits for the payment of a valid invoice from the Department for Transport is 3.41 working days.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 to deliver inclusive and sustainable development in Africa and transform it into "the global powerhouse of the future"; and what engagement they are having with partners to support the delivery of those aims.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 30 October, the UK and the African Union held our inaugural High Level Dialogue, hosted by the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Africa. At the Dialogue, Minister Mitchell announced further UK funding in support of the African Union's 2063 Agenda, and for its flagship Silencing the Guns campaign. This includes £10 million in stipends to support troops in Somalia, bringing our total commitment to the AU Transition Mission in Somalia since 2022 to more than £57 million.
We are also providing £3 million through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's Tackling Deadly Diseases in African Programme, helping the Africa Centres for Disease Control and World Health Organisation address emergency preparedness and response in the continent.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of tidal turbine technology to produce energy at a cost-effective level.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Tidal stream is a novel technology and so initial costs are high. Cost reductions are required to deliver the potential benefits cost-effectively. In 2023 DESNZ published research on ‘Levelised Costs of Electricity from Tidal Stream Energy’. It suggested there is potential for significant cost reductions, subject to deployment. 94MW of new tidal stream power was procured in Contracts for Difference Allocation Rounds 4 and 5. This will increase the UK’s installed capacity tenfold.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the increased costs to British business resulting from the attacks to shipping in the Red Sea.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department of Business and Trade is in regular contact with key businesses and industries to understand the issues they may be facing as a result of the disturbance in the Red Sea. We have open channels of communication with key stakeholders to ensure the most effective mitigations are in place to support with any increased costs they are facing. Our Critical Imports and Supply Chains Strategy will help UK business build the secure and reliable supply chains vital to the UK’s economic prosperity, national security and essential services.
For exporters affected, UK businesses can access DBT’s wealth of export support via Great.gov.uk. This comprises a digital self-serve offer and our wider network of support, including trade advisors, export champions, the Export Academy, International Markets network, and UK Export Finance.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of electricity grid miscalculations on housebuilding in England.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The calculation of electricity network capacity for new housing developments is a matter for housing developers and network companies. Guidance on network capacity requirements for housing developments has been published by the Independent Networks Association, whose members are responsible for the connection of around 80 percent of newbuild developments. Distribution Network Operators also offer online calculators for housebuilders to determine the network capacity they might require for their developments.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent any negative impact on this year's local elections as a result of fake news being disseminated through (1) artificial intelligence, and (2) other means.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government is committed to safeguarding the UK’s elections and already has established systems and processes in place, to protect the democratic integrity of the UK.
The Government has established the Defending Democracy Taskforce, which has a mandate to safeguard our democratic institutions and processes from the full range of threats, including digitally manipulated content. The Taskforce is an enduring government function which is ensuring we have a robust system in place to rapidly respond to any threats during election periods, including novel threats from artificial intelligence (AI).
The new digital imprints regime, introduced by the Elections Act 2022, will increase the transparency of digital political advertising, including AI-generated material.
Additionally, it is already an election offence for a person to make a false statement about a candidate which provides a reasonable check and balance against malicious smear campaigns.
The threat to democracy from artificial intelligence was discussed at the AI Safety Summit in November 2023, reinforcing the Government’s commitment to international collaboration on this shared challenge.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing to the development of more cooperative housing schemes.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government is committed to supporting housing co-operatives and other providers of community-led housing. The National Planning Policy Framework sets out the Government's planning policies for England and how these are expected to be applied, and was most recently revised in December 2023. The National Planning Policy Framework now includes several measures that will support the diversification of the housing market, including the growth of the community-led housing sector. These new measures include:
Community-based groups (or their partner organisations) who are registered as providers of social housing may apply for capital grant through the £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme (AHP).
In addition, in 2023, we provided £3 million to support a social finance fund to provide equity and loan finance for community-led housing schemes across England. This fund is expected to support the delivery of 1587 homes over ten years.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of the number of building inspectors and any risk to construction due to declines in their numbers.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Noble Lady to the answer given to Question UIN 16272 on 5 March 2024.