Conduct Of Ministers On Payment Of Contractors

EDM number 1825 in 1992-93, proposed by Alan Williams on 22/04/1993.

That this House notes that on 14th April 1993 the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Corporate Affairs stated, Official Report, column 849, 'the Government are committed to paying their bills in due time, and that goes for their main contractors as well. We hope that main contractors will impose the same terms on sub-contractors because we take seriously the late payment of debt'; notes that in saying this he clearly believes that Government departments and agencies are observing the Chancellor of the Exchequer's protestation that bills should be paid within 30 days; invites both these Ministers to discuss with their colleagues at the Ministry of Defence and at the Department of the Environment the contents of a recent survey by the Heating and Ventilating Contractors Association which reveals that 83 of its members had to wait, on average over 90 days for payments of ú7,431,000 from PSA Building Management and from PSA Services while 25 members had to wait an average of 42 days for ú5,411,000 from the Ministry of Defence; is aware that with the approval of Ministers these days are being formalised by PSA Building Management through enforced renegotiation of contracts which ignore any duty to payment within 30 days instead requiring acceptance that its sub-contractors will only be paid after PSABM has been paid by the dilatory Ministry of Defence; and asks Ministers to indicate which Department's policy is Government policy.

This motion has been signed by a total of 46 MPs.