§ Baroness Greengrossasked Her Majesty's Government:
What redress is available to voluntary organisations which are contracted to provide services on behalf of a local authority if the local authority does not pay for those services on time. [HL1812]
§ The Minister of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Lord Rooker)The redress available to a voluntary organisation for late payment for any services it has been contracted to provide is governed primarily by the terms of its contract with the local authority. The law of contract is essentially a common law field, but various statutes could be relevant. The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 is likely to provide a remedy for late payment if the contract is a commercial contract for the supply of services.