Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what requirements his Department, 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.

DWP includes a provision in its contract terms requiring payment to contractors within thirty days of receipt of a valid claim. Where the contractor enters into a sub-contract for the purpose of performing its obligations under the contract, it must ensure that a provision is included in the sub-contract which requires payment to be made by the contractor to the sub-contractor within a specified period not exceeding thirty days from the receipt of a valid claim.

The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 came into force on 26 February and contain a requirement for sub-contractors to include in any sub-contract which they in turn award, provisions having the same effect.