§ Mrs. RocheTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how often his Department and each agency within it has failed to pay invoices due to small businesses within 30 days in each of the last five years. [40531]
§ Mr. ArbuthnotThe payment of the vast majority of the Department's bills and those of its agencies is a matter for the chief executive of the Defence Accounts Agency. The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency is responsible for paying its own bills. I have asked the chief executives of these agencies to reply.
Letter from Peter Trevelyan to Mrs. Barbara Roche, dated 1 November 1995:
You asked the Secretary of State for Defence how often his Department and each Agency within it has failed to pay invoices due to small businesses within 30 days in each of the last 5 years. As Chief Executive of the Defence Accounts Agency, responsible for paying the vast majority of MOD bills, I have been asked to reply. I understand MOD Agencies which pay their own bills will reply separately.The statistics which are readily available to the MOD payment office at Liverpool go back two and a half years. During this time 99.99% of bills have been paid within 30 days of receipt. Some low value bills are paid locally throughout MOD, but information about these is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.Letter from John Chisholm to Mrs. Barbara Roche, dated 1 November 1995:
1. You asked the Secretary of State for Defence how often his Department and each agency within it has failed to pay invoices due to small businesses within 30 days in each of the last 5 years. I am replying for the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, formerly the Defence Research Agency.2. Assuming that the 30 day period is measured from the point at which a validated invoice is passed to our bill paying section for action, then virtually all bills are settled within 9 days. We make no distinction in this process between small and large businesses.