§ Mr. BettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security 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. [20485]
§ Mr. BurtThe information is not available in the format requested. The Department of Social Security, in accordance with Treasury guidelines, pays its invoices within 30 days of receipt of a valid invoice. A recent sample showed a 96 per cent. level of compliance with this guideline.
To provide the information requested would involve further investigation and could be retrieved only at disproportionate cost.