Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of contracts issued by his Department and contractors include provisions to impose, as between parties to the subcontract, that any payment due from the contractor to a subcontractor under the contract is to be made no later than the end of a period of 30 days from the date on which the relevant invoice is regarded as valid and undisputed, as required by the Public Contract Regulations 2015.

Wherever possible the Attorney General’s Office and the Law Officers Departments (the Crown Prosecution Service, the Serious Fraud Office, The Government Legal Department and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate) let contracts over £10,000 using call-off contracts from frameworks procured by the Crown Commercial Service (CCS). These frameworks include provision for payments to sub-contractors within 30 days of receipt of undisputed invoice.

Central records are not held for procurements partially, or fully, managed outside the procurement service. To confirm that these contracts include provisions for prompt payment of sub-contractor invoices would require a manual check of all procurement records, which would incur a disproportionate cost.