§ Sir Michael MarshallTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what policy guidelines are currently in place within his Department and the purchasing 439W organisations for which he has responsibility in respect of the prompt payment of commercial debt, particularly as it relates to small business suppliers.
§ Mr. MatesThe director of the Government Purchasing Service for Northern Ireland, formerly the central unit on purchasing (Northern Ireland), issued a directive on payments policy to all purchasing staff across the Northern Ireland civil service and related non-departmental public bodies on 28 December 1989. This stated that all public sector buying organisations should implement a declared commercially acceptable payment policy. The recommended policy was to have quick payment where prompt payment discount was offered and to pay after a stated interval of between 30 and 60 days without a discount.
Reviews of payment performance since that date have shown that the payment of bills is no longer an identifiable problem for public sector suppliers in Northern Ireland.
§ Sir Michael MarshallTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what distribution has taken place within his Department and the purchasing organisations for which he has responsibility of the Department of Employment's publication "Making the Cash Flow—A Guide to the Payment of Commercial Debt for Buyers and Small Business Suppliers".
§ Mr. AtkinsThe publication has been circulated to the Department of Economic Development and to the local enterprise development unit, the organisation responsible for the promotion and development of small firms within Northern Ireland. The document is available at LEDU's headquarters and in each of its seven regional offices.