Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of suppliers to his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies paid subcontractors within 30 days in the last period for which figures are available.

We will only investigate a supplier’s payment performance where we receive a complaint from a sub-contractor.

Department for Transport standard T&Cs say:

‘The Department reserves the right to ask for information about payment performance and will provide a facility for sub-contractors to report poor performance to the Department.’

The ‘How we buy’ guide soon to be published on GOV.UK says:

‘General Conditions of Contract include a condition requiring suppliers employing sub-contractors to pay them promptly too. Any sub-contractors who are not being paid within a 30 day period should raise their concern with the Department, by emailing dftprocurement@dft.gsi.gov.uk. Please include the name, and reference number of the contract, and the nature of the complaint. Should this not be resolved to the supplier’s satisfaction, this can be escalated to the Mystery Shopper service email MysteryShopper@crowncommercial.gov.uk or telephone 0345 010 3503