§ Mr. WatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for each year from 1990 to 2001, what proportion of commercial payments have been late. [10133]
§ Nigel GriffithsThe Department does not hold this information.
The Credit Management Research Centre (CMRC) has produced a quarterly report on credit management practices in the UK since 1998.
The CMRC reports show that there has been a fall of almost 7.5 per cent. in the percentage of payments that are reported as being late by the businesses that they survey. This fall relates to the period between their first survey and their most recent published survey, ie the quarter ending June 1998 and the quarter ending June 2001. During the same period their reports show that the number of debtor days for small businesses has fallen by almost 24 per cent. and that the mean number of debtor days for all businesses has fallen by almost 20 per cent.
Finally, the "European Business Survey" for 2001, produced by the accountants Grant Thornton, shows the UK as having a payment period almost a week (five days) shorter than the EU average (52 days).