Companies who pay suppliers late to be fined
Companies which continually pay their suppliers late will face fines worth potentially millions of pounds, the prime minister has announced.
Sir Keir Starmer said “It’s time to pay up” as the government is set to unveil plans to give the small business commissioner powers to fine large companies that persistently pay their suppliers late.
Under the new legislation, businesses will have to pay their suppliers within 30 days of receiving a valid invoice, unless otherwise agreed, with spot checks to help identify breaches.
Maximum payment terms of 60 days, reducing to 45 days, will also be introduced as part of the legislation to ensure businesses are paid on time.
Late payments cost the UK economy £11 billion a year and shut down 38 businesses a day, the government said.
The new law will save small and medium businesses time so they can focus on growing their revenue, it added.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves and PM Sir Keir Starmer. Pic: PA
Sir Keir said: “From builders and electricians to freelance designers and manufacturers – too many hardworking people are being forced to spend precious hours chasing payments instead of doing what they do best – growing their businesses.
“It’s unfair, it’s exhausting, and it’s holding Britain back. So, our message is clear: it’s time to pay up.
“Through our Small Business Plan, we’re not only tackling the scourge of late payments once and for all, but we’re giving small business owners the backing and stability they need for their business to thrive, driving growth across the country through our Plan for Change.”
The late payment crackdown is part of a wider government package, including a move to pump £4bn of financial support into small business start-ups and growth.
This will include £1bn for new firms, with 69,000 start-up loans and mentoring support.
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The value of ‘de minimis’ imports into Britain
The Conservatives said the crackdown will be welcome, but fails to address the “218,000 businesses that have closed under Labour”.
Andrew Griffith, the Tory shadow business secretary, added: “The reality for businesses under Labour is a doubling of business rates, a £25billion jobs tax and a full-on strangulation of employment red tape.
“Only the Conservatives are on the side of the makers and will support businesses across Britain to create jobs and wealth.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has increased employers’ national insurance, raised the minimum wage and lowered the threshold at which employers’ national insurance is paid.
The Resolution Foundation said this hits the cost of low-paid and part-time workers the most.
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Coinbase, Kraken, Ripple, a16z and others pressed the Senate to add explicit protections for developers and non-custodial services in the market structure bill.
Reform’s plan was meant to be detailed. Instead, there’s more confusion.
The party had grown weary of the longstanding criticism that their tough talk on immigration did not come with a full proposal for what they would do to tackle small boats if they came to power.
So, after six months of planning, yesterday they attempted to put flesh on to the bones of their flagship policy.
Politics latest: Farage rows back on pledge to deport illegal migrant women and girls
At an expensive press conference in a vast airhanger in Oxford, the headline news was clear: Reform UK would deport anyone who comes here by small boat, arresting, detaining and then deporting up to 600,000 people in the first five years of governing.
They would leave international treaties and repeal the Human Rights Act to do it
But, one day later, that policy is clear as mud when it comes to who this would apply to.
Nigel Farage launched an airport-style departures board to illustrate how many illegal migrants have arrived in the UK. Pic: PA
I asked Farage at the time of the announcement whether this would apply to women and girls – an important question – as the basis for their extreme policy seemed to hinge on the safety of women and girls in the UK.
He was unequivocal: “Yes, women and children, everybody on arrival will be detained.
“And I’ve accepted already that how we deal with children is a much more complicated and difficult issue.”
But a day later, he appeared to row back on this stance at a press conference in Scotland, saying Reform is “not even discussing women and children at this stage”.
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He later clarified that if a single woman came by boat, then they could fall under the policy, but if “a woman comes with children, we will work out the best thing to do”.
A third clarification in the space of 24 hours on a flagship policy they worked on over six months seems like a pretty big gaffe, and it only feeds into the Labour criticism that these plans aren’t yet credible.
If they had hoped to pivot from rhetoric to rigour, this announcement showed serious pitfalls.
But party strategists probably will not be tearing out too much hair over this, with polling showing Reform UK still as the most trusted party on the issue of immigration overall.
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