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Written Question
Small Businesses: Billing
Monday 15th September 2025

Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment the Government has made of the potential impact of large businesses repaying SME invoices 60 or 90 days after receipt of the invoice on levels of interruption to SME cashflow.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

On 31st July DBT published new research showing that late payments cost the UK economy £11bn per year and closes down 38 UK businesses every day, with a disproportionate impact upon small businesses.

Government is putting in place the most significant legislation to tackle late payments in over 25 years, giving the UK the strongest legal framework on late payments in the G7. The consultation on stronger new legislative measures to ensure small businesses are paid promptly closes on 23 October.


Written Question
Companies: Registration
Monday 2nd December 2024

Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring a company to confirm an address before registering it at Companies House.

Answered by Justin Madders

Through the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 we have given the registrar more powers to ensure address (and other) information on the register of companies is as accurate and complete as reasonably possible. Additionally, next year will see the introduction of identity verification for company officers, beneficial owners and those who file information on companies’ behalf. We will assess the merits of these various improvements before considering what, if any, further measures might be appropriate to improve the quality and reliability of company information.