§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what regulations currently apply to large companies when dealing with small businesses in relation to debt recovery; and what penalties he is considering introducing for large companies if they default on payments to small businesses.
§ Mr. Ian TaylorRecovery of debt is a matter on which a number of statutory provisions and rules of common law impinge, both generally and in relation to specific circumstances and sectors. Not all of these are the responsibility of the Department of Trade and Industry.
In the White Paper on Competitiveness, (Cm 2563), in May 1994 the Government announced that they would re-examine the case for legislation for a statutory right to interest in two years if there has been no significant improvement in payment performance.