Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, (a) what estimate he has made of the average amount owed to small and medium-sized enterprises through overdue invoices in each of the last five years, and (b) what additional financial and staffing resources have been allocated to the Small Business Commissioner to support the enforcement of the Government’s measures on late payments.

The Government does not hold data on the average amount owed to SMEs in overdue invoices over the last 5 years. However, research commissioned by DBT and published last year highlighted that late payments cost the UK economy £11 billion each year, causing 14,000 business closures annually.

The Department for Business and Trade is working with the Office of the Small Business Commissioner to ensure it has the necessary resources to effectively carry out its new functions.