§ Mrs. RocheTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) how many (i) orders and (ii) firms are represented by the 16 per cent. of invoices not paid by his Department within 30 days or in accordance with contractual agreements in 1994–95; and how many of these are related to firms with fewer than 500 employees; [913]
(2) what is the amount owed to those businesses whose invoices were not paid within 30 days or within the agreed credit period in each of the last five years; [1121]
(3) how his Department publicises payment practices other than as percentages of invoices paid late; [966]
(4) what is the average length of time it takes for his Department to pay invoices. [921]
§ Mr. Lang[holding answer 22 November 1995]: Much of the information sought either is not available or could be assembled only at disproportionate cost.
My Department's prompt payment performance is checked by means of a random survey which monitors approximately 4,000 invoices over the course of each year with the purpose of identifying invoices paid later than 30 days after receipt, or after the agreed credit period. In 1994–95, 16 per cent., or approximately 640, of these invoices were found to fall into one or other of these categories. As I have made clear before, this was clearly an unsatisfactory performance which we are seeking to address through the introduction of a challenging performance target for this year. The survey does not, however, gather information on the size of the companies involved, the amounts outstanding or the average time taken to make payment.
My Department publishes its payment performance in the form of a percentage figure which gives the proportion of invoices paid either within 30 days or within an agreed credit period. The overall results of the annual survey are published in the departmental report, a copy of which is placed in the Library of the House. The 30-day target for paying invoices is itself published in the DTI standard terms and conditions of contract for supplies.