HC Deb 05 April 1995 vol 257 cc1182-3W
32. Mr. McAvoy

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what recent representations he has received from trade associations about the problem of late payment of invoices. [16468]

Mr. Ian Taylor

I am not aware of any recent representations from trade associations on the problems of late payment of invoices.

35. Mr. McFall

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about his plans to deal with the problem of late payment. [16471]

Mr. Ian Taylor

Following consultation with the business community, the Government announced a package of new measures to address late payment in the May 1994 White Paper on competitiveness. Work on these continues.

The Government also announced that they would re-examine the case for a statutory right to interest on overdue debts in two years if there has been no significant improvement.

Mr. Simpson

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to deal with the problem of late payments for businesses. [16433]

Mr. Ian Taylor

Following consultation with the business community, the Government announced a package of new measures to address late payment in the May 1994 in the White Paper on competitiveness. The measures include: Government Departments and their agencies to comply with the CBI prompt payers code, to state whether they have done so and publish their payment policies in their annual reports and to publicise their arrangements for handling complaints of late payment.

streamlining of court procedures for debt recovery and a review of the limit for the informal small claims procedure;

implementation of proposals to require public companies to state their payment policies in their director's reports;

development of proposals for a British standard for prompt payment;

work with trade associations, business links and others to improve credit management and debt collection skills in small firms.

The Government also announced that they would re-examine the case for a statutory right to interest on overdue debts in two years if there has been no significant improvement.