Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what sanctions are used in the event of a public authority not complying with the obligation to publish information regarding their late payment performance online as set out in section 113(7) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/102).

Normal public law remedies are available for failure by a contracting authority to comply with the requirement to publish information showing how far it has complied with its obligations to make payment within 30 days under section 113(7) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

The Mystery Shopper service assists in ensuring compliance with obligations under these Regulations, including the requirement to publish information under section 113(7). We encourage businesses to report any instances where this may not be happening to the Service who will then investigate. Contracting authorities must give assistance to any Mystery Shopper investigation and must provide documents or information for the purpose of any such investigation within a set timeframe of 30 days.