Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of late payments on small businesses in Hamilton and Clyde Valley constituency.

No specific assessment has been made of the potential impact of late payments on SME across Hamiliton and Clyde Valley.

Late payments cost the UK economy £11bn per year and cause the closure of the equivalent of 38 UK businesses every day.

The Commercial Payments Bill is the most significant legislation tackling late payments in over 25 years. It expands the powers of the Small Business Commissioner, mandates statutory interest on late payments at 8% above the Bank of England base rate and introduces maximum payment terms for larger businesses; giving the UK the strongest legal framework on late payments in the G7.