Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department is taking steps to help small businesses respond to the payment of delayed invoices by larger businesses.

In September 2024 we announced a package of measures to help ensure small businesses are paid promptly by the large businesses they supply.

This included the newly launched Fair Payment Code by the Small Business Commissioner, and upcoming legislation to require that large companies include payment performance reporting headlines within their annual reports.

We will soon launch a public consultation on further measures to address late payments and long payment terms, including strengthened powers for the Small Business Commissioner.