Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to help ensure that SMEs in the defence supply chain are paid on time.

In line with other Dovernment Departments, Defence adheres to Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 10/23 which requires bidders for major government contracts to demonstrate fair payment practices. As mentioned by the Chancellor in the Autumn statement, bidders for large government contracts will now be required to pay their own suppliers within an average of 55 days.