Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, 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.

The Department has standard terms and conditions it uses for the procurement of goods and services. These conditions contain a clause that require contractors to pay sums to sub-contractors within 30 days of verifying that the invoice is valid and undisputed. The conditions also require sub-contractors to include a clause to the same effect into any contracts it enters into for the purpose of performing the contract.

Regulation 113(6) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/102) (‘The Regulations’) implies a term into the relevant public contracts requiring payment within 30 days, even if the contract itself does not contain express provisions. Therefore, all contracts covered by s.113 of the Regulations are deemed to include provisions to impose the applicable payment terms.