§ Mr. BettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what values of payments were outstanding within his Department on 5 March, which were beyond the date on the invoice and, where no date was specified, older than 28 days. [20472]
§ Mr. ArbuthnotThis is a matter for the Defence Bills Agency under its framework document. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from T. R. Thurgate to Mr. Clive Betts, dated 12 March 1996:
You asked the Secretary of State for Defence what values of payments were outstanding within his Department on 5 March 1996, which were beyond the date on the invoice and, if no date was 514W specified, older than 28 days. As this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of Defence Bills Agency I have been asked to reply.As the Defence Bills Agency pays approximately 3 million bills each year, the information requested is only available at disproportionate cost. However, we do monitor our payment performance closely in terms of volume of bills. So far this financial year over 99.9% of bills have been paid within 30 days fo receipt at our office in Liverpool. We also measure our performance against the higher departmental standard of payment within 11 days, we have achieved an average of 97% so far this financial year.