§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment 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 took more than six weeks to pay.
§ Sir Paul BeresfordThe information is not available in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, Departments are required to provide details of their annual payment performance in their departmental reports. For 1993, my Department paid 90 per cent. of its bills in accordance with agreed contractual conditions or, where no such contractual conditions existed, within 30 days of receipt of goods and services or the presentation of a valid invoice.