‘Postcode lottery’ for council suppliers says FPB
December 1st 2009 A major study by the Forum of Private Business (FPB) has revealed vast differences in the amount of time British councils take to pay their suppliers.Using the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act, the FPB asked local authorities across the UK how quickly they pay firms providing them with goods and services.
The research comes a year after the government urged town halls to settle invoices within 10 days in order to help smaller businesses maintain their cash flows during the recession. However, the FPB found massive variations in payment practices across local government.
Some trailblazing authorities are settling more than 90% of their bills in ten days or less. Others have proactively signed up to the government’s Prompt Payment Code and made concerted efforts to speed up payments to aid local companies.
However, other councils appear oblivious to the 10-day target. Some admitted that none of their suppliers received payment within 10 days, while more than a dozen paid less than a tenth of their bills within the timeframe.
Additionally, many councils appear to have trouble paying invoices within even 30 days, only managing to settle around half of their bills within a month.
Commenting on the findings, the FPB’s National Chairman, Noel Guilford, called for more consistency in the processing of payments.“These figures reveal that businesses face a payment postcode lottery when carrying out local authority work,” says Guilford.“Some businesses are paid for their goods and services within a few hours but some have to wait more than a month.
“We’re part of a national economy,we’re in a national recession and you would expect a national policy on payment by public bodies.We would like to see joined-up thinking, perhaps from central government.” More articles from Cleaning Matters: | 
