Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what requirements his Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies place on suppliers in respect of their payment terms to subcontractors as part of their standard terms and conditions.

Contracts awarded under Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) standard terms and conditions obligate prime contractors (Tier-1 suppliers) to pay suppliers within 30 days. Work is underway to meet new obligations under The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 which places a legal requirement on the FCO to use contract conditions which cascade a 30 day payment term throughout the entirety of our supply chain.