Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to help reduce late payment to SMEs (a) directly contracted by the Ministry of Defence and b) in the supply chain of firms contracted by the Ministry of Defence.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) aims to pay 90% of undisputed and valid invoices from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within five days. In the last quarter of this financial year, over 95% of invoices have been paid within this timescale. Additionally, 100% of all undisputed and valid invoices should be paid within 30 days. Information relating to the Department's supplier payment performance can be found at the gov.uk website.

Along with all major suppliers to Government, direct suppliers to the MOD are required to comply with the Government’s prompt payment policy (PPN 10/23), and can be excluded from MOD procurements if they do not meet the standards of fair payment laid out in the policy. Suppliers must ensure that 95% of invoices in their supply chain are paid within 60 days and that they pay their invoices within an average of at least 55 days.