§ Finally, on the small business sector, I turn to the problem of small companies' cash flow. There is one issue which year after year tops the list of Budget representations made to all of us by the small business community — the problem of late payment. There can be nothing more frustrating than delivering a quality product on time at a competitive price and then finding that one does not get paid for months. Late payments wreak havoc with cash flow, and for many small firms they can make the difference between survival and failure. The habit of late payment is corroding our business culture. I am quite sure that it needs to be dealt with.
§ There are many options for tackling that problem, and my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade and I will be looking at two in particular: first, a new British standard for payment performance; and, secondly — more significantly — legislation to provide for interest on late payments. Late payment was a serious problem for small businesses throughout the last recession. I believe that the time has now come to take that issue head on.