§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the average and the median time his Department has taken to pay suppliers in each of the last 12 months; and what proportion of bills it took more than six weeks to pay.
§ Mr. NorrisThe average time taken to dispatch a payment document was 18 days, the median being 20 days. A total of 4.8 per cent. took more than six weeks to pay.