Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the First Secretary of State, what the target time is for the Government to make payments to small and medium-sized enterprises; and (a) how many and (b) what percentage of payments by the Government met that target in 2017.

In March 2015 the Government restated its longstanding policy commitment to pay 80% of undisputed and valid invoices within 5 days with the remainder paid within 30 days.

Public sector buyers must publish annually on their payment performance. We do not hold centrally the performance data for 2017. However, data published in 2015-16 shows that by the final quarter all major departments, apart from one (at 76%), were meeting their 5 days target and that all departments were paying at least 96% of their invoices within the 30 day target, with several departments achieving 100%.