§ Mr. McMasterTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the average time lapse between receipt and payment of invoices in his Department in each year since 1985; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LangI refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Clydebank and Milngavie (Mr. Worthington) on 10 May 1994 which provides information about payment performance in the financial year 1991–92, 1992–93 and 1993–94. Information for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Provisional figures for the current financial year indicate a further improvement whereby 93 per cent. of payments were made on or before the due date. This is normally 30 days from receipt of goods/services or receipt of invoice, whichever is the later.
A formal statement of payment performance for 199495, giving final figures, will be included in my Department's annual report to be published in March.