Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2017 to Question 114740, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of public sector buyers' published payment performance; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of public sector buyers who are meeting the stated 30-day payment term.

Although their performance is not monitored routinely, public sector buyers are required to publish their payment performance annually. Data published in 2015-16 shows that by the final quarter all major departments, apart from one (at 76%), were meeting their 5 days target and that all departments were paying at least 96% of their invoices within the 30 day target, with several departments achieving 100%.

Moreover, businesses can report poor payment practice and instances of late payment, including late payment through the supply chain, in public sector contracts to our Mystery Shopper service, which will then investigate