Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Leong on 21 July (HL Deb col 1078), whether businesses will be expected to determine their own size, and that of their business partners.
Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
For the purposes of the Commercial Payments Bill there is no general requirement for businesses to establish their size or that of their partners. Certain categories of business, will be able to benefit from exemptions from maximum payment terms – on the basis of size. Therefore, businesses wanting to rely on these exemptions will need to ensure they fall within the relevant category. This should be simple and pose minimal burden for those businesses seeking exemptions. Business size thresholds will be confirmed through regulations following a consultation with stakeholders.
The Small Business Commissioner will be able to examine whether the relevant size conditions have been met and take appropriate action where an exemption has been claimed improperly.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Leong on 21 July (HL Deb col 1070), what assessment they have made of whether commercial contracts subject to sections 233, 233A and 233B of the Insolvency Act 1986 are treated differently to other creditors.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
All creditors in an insolvency are treated equally in their class according to a strict statutory priority. Without the provisions in sections 233 to 233B Insolvency Act 1986, essential suppliers could demand payment of existing debt, thereby undermining this priority. The provisions strike an important balance between the rights of the supplier and the benefits of business rescue, with mitigations included to prevent hardship. A 2023 review of the provisions found early positive signs that they are meeting their objectives and produced an estimated ongoing annual benefit to business creditors from increased company rescue of £73.2m.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Leong on 21 July (HL Deb cols 1068-1070), whether they plan to review the 60-day maximum payment term for non-public authorities; and what plans they have, if any, to incentivise early payment.
Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
Large businesses are required to publish payment data through the Payment Practices and Performance Reporting Regulations 2017. The effects and impact of the Commercial Payments Bill will be monitored following its implementation. Sixty days is a maximum, not a target. The Government will continue to encourage businesses to agree and meet shorter payment terms. We will continue our work to encourage businesses to pay even faster with the Small Business Commissioner who administers the Fair Payment Code, encouraging businesses to pay in 30 days.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Leong on 21 July (HL Deb col 1078), in which scenarios the Secretary of State would consider adopting a business-size definition different to existing definitions.
Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
For the purpose of exemptions to maximum payment terms under the Commercial Payments Bill, the Government will consider aligning with business size definitions in existing legislation. Definitions of business sizes will be set out in secondary legislation, following consultation with stakeholders. Any departure from an established definition will therefore require a clear and evidenced justification.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Leong on 21 July (HL Deb cols 1068-1070), what assessment they have made of the economic impact of the new section 2E(2) of the Commercial Payments and Interest on Late Payment Act 1998.
Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Government has assessed section 2E(2) as part of the wider impact assessment for the Commercial Payments Bill as a whole, where the measures are aimed at addressing the estimated £11 billion cost of late payments to cost the UK economy each year.
Section 2E(2) provides a targeted exemption from the statutory payment term restrictions, where the purchaser is the smaller party, preserving flexibility for smaller purchasers when contracting with larger suppliers. The impact assessment looks at the costs of businesses identifying and implementing exemptions. Exemptions introduce additional administrative burdens for businesses, with larger estimated costs for large businesses compared to smaller ones. The full assessment can be found in the costs and benefits analysis annex of the published impact assessment: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69c054b11263ce46c3690c7c/prompt-payments-primary-legislation-impact-assessment.pdf
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to help small- and medium-sized enterprises to manage periods of employee ill health more effectively; and to reduce avoidable economic inactivity.
Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Government is committed to helping businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises, to support staff who are balancing work and health conditions. The Government has welcomed the Keep Britain Working Review’s findings, including its emphasis on shared responsibility for workplace health. It is progressing this through employer-led Vanguards to identify practical and scalable solutions, including representation from smaller businesses. We are also making changes through the Employment Rights Act to make it more likely flexible working requests are accepted, with many employers already offering flexible working arrangements. Together, this will support more people to remain in, and return to, employment.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the availability of evidence on the efficacy of employee health benefits to support decision-makers in small- and medium-sized enterprises to invest confidently in workforce health solutions.
Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Keep Britain Working Vanguard Phase is focused on tackling health-related economic inactivity and promoting healthy and inclusive workplaces. We are partnering with employers, including small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), and employee health benefit providers, to test and identify which interventions are most effective in preventing and managing employee ill health. This will help strengthen the evidence base on what works in practice. The programme will also explore the barriers SMEs face, including access to clear and relevant evidence, and consider what support they need to make confident, informed decisions about adopting appropriate workforce health solutions.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have assessed the costs already incurred by supermarkets and manufacturers in preparing for products high in fat, sugar or salt location, volume price and advertising restrictions before proposing to apply the Nutrient Profiling Model 2018.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The current Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) is over 20 years out of date and does not reflect the latest evidence, particularly on free sugars, which are more strongly correlated with poor health outcomes, including obesity. The Government has committed to updating the standards behind the advertising and promotions restrictions on ‘less healthy’ food and drink by applying the new NPM.
The Government published the new NPM on 27 January 2026 alongside technical guidance to support business to understand the new NPM and apply it to their products, including worked examples on how to calculate free sugars and NPM scores in a range of products. Since publication of the new NPM, we are continuing to engage with industry on what further support would be helpful.
We have launched a consultation on the proposed application of the new NPM to the advertising and promotions restrictions, which is open until 17 June 2026. The consultation seeks feedback on the impact and challenges associated with the proposal for industry and enforcement authorities and gathers views on what further support is needed to help businesses and enforcement authorities to adapt to the requirements of the new NPM. We will consider whether further guidance is needed following feedback to the consultation.
A consultation-stage impact assessment, setting out the direct costs to businesses for the proposed application of the new NPM to these restrictions, was published alongside the consultation. We will use evidence from the consultation to inform the final impact assessment which, subject to the outcome of the consultation, would be published ahead of any changes being made.
Detailed impact assessments for the current advertising and promotions restrictions, which set out the costs to industry can also be found on GOV.UK. We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the restrictions and will publish a Post Implementation Review within five years of the restrictions taking legal effect.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the practicality for food businesses of calculating free sugars under the Nutrient Profiling Model 2018 for products containing fruit or vegetable juice, purée or paste ingredients.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The current Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) is over 20 years out of date and does not reflect the latest evidence, particularly on free sugars, which are more strongly correlated with poor health outcomes, including obesity. The Government has committed to updating the standards behind the advertising and promotions restrictions on ‘less healthy’ food and drink by applying the new NPM.
The Government published the new NPM on 27 January 2026 alongside technical guidance to support business to understand the new NPM and apply it to their products, including worked examples on how to calculate free sugars and NPM scores in a range of products. Since publication of the new NPM, we are continuing to engage with industry on what further support would be helpful.
We have launched a consultation on the proposed application of the new NPM to the advertising and promotions restrictions, which is open until 17 June 2026. The consultation seeks feedback on the impact and challenges associated with the proposal for industry and enforcement authorities and gathers views on what further support is needed to help businesses and enforcement authorities to adapt to the requirements of the new NPM. We will consider whether further guidance is needed following feedback to the consultation.
A consultation-stage impact assessment, setting out the direct costs to businesses for the proposed application of the new NPM to these restrictions, was published alongside the consultation. We will use evidence from the consultation to inform the final impact assessment which, subject to the outcome of the consultation, would be published ahead of any changes being made.
Detailed impact assessments for the current advertising and promotions restrictions, which set out the costs to industry can also be found on GOV.UK. We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the restrictions and will publish a Post Implementation Review within five years of the restrictions taking legal effect.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the ability of enforcement authorities to verify businesses' calculations of free sugars under the Nutrient Profiling Model 2018.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The current Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) is over 20 years out of date and does not reflect the latest evidence, particularly on free sugars, which are more strongly correlated with poor health outcomes, including obesity. The Government has committed to updating the standards behind the advertising and promotions restrictions on ‘less healthy’ food and drink by applying the new NPM.
The Government published the new NPM on 27 January 2026 alongside technical guidance to support business to understand the new NPM and apply it to their products, including worked examples on how to calculate free sugars and NPM scores in a range of products. Since publication of the new NPM, we are continuing to engage with industry on what further support would be helpful.
We have launched a consultation on the proposed application of the new NPM to the advertising and promotions restrictions, which is open until 17 June 2026. The consultation seeks feedback on the impact and challenges associated with the proposal for industry and enforcement authorities and gathers views on what further support is needed to help businesses and enforcement authorities to adapt to the requirements of the new NPM. We will consider whether further guidance is needed following feedback to the consultation.
A consultation-stage impact assessment, setting out the direct costs to businesses for the proposed application of the new NPM to these restrictions, was published alongside the consultation. We will use evidence from the consultation to inform the final impact assessment which, subject to the outcome of the consultation, would be published ahead of any changes being made.
Detailed impact assessments for the current advertising and promotions restrictions, which set out the costs to industry can also be found on GOV.UK. We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the restrictions and will publish a Post Implementation Review within five years of the restrictions taking legal effect.