Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: Late Payments

Baroness Sharples Excerpts

Thursday 19th June 2014 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

The noble Lord makes a good point about the fact that late payment is still very much an issue. In our discussion paper, Building a Responsible Payment Culture, we asked for views on radical options for tackling late payment, including greater legislation. What was clear is that businesses did not want legislation that restricted their freedom of contract, further fines or a Government to collect fines on their behalf, all of which were felt to harm business relationships. That is why we are working to create transparency in payment practices and work with industry to create a more responsible payment culture and, indeed, make some behavioural change.

[Baroness Sharples (Con)]

Are all government departments paying their bills on time?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

The record for government payment is improving the whole time, and I am pleased to say that my own department, BIS, has a 97.3% record. We keep a very strong eye on the stats, and we are very aware of the fact that the public sector has to keep up.