Late payment of finance: building a responsible payment culture

Thousands of businesses experience severe administrative and financial burdens every year, simply because they are not paid on time. Late payment stops these businesses, small businesses in particular, from:

• investing to grow
• creating new jobs
• contributing fully to economic prosperity

This consultation asks what government, businesses and other stakeholders can do to build an environment where businesses treat their suppliers fairly, and accept their obligation to pay what they owe, when they owe it, without over-burdensome enforcement.

We seek views on:

• whether more can be done to change business culture through measures to improve accountability and transparency
• how to encourage small businesses to make better use of the statutory rights they already have and whether there is a case to improve those rights
• how we can help small businesses to help themselves to reduce the risk of late payment