HVCA to press clients for ten-day payments

HVCA members are being urged to seek an undertaking from their public sector clients that they will pay their suppliers within the ten-day period stipulated by business secretary Peter Mandelson.

In a statement made in the House of Lords on 22 October, Lord Mandelson made it clear that “Central Government will aim to pay its suppliers as soon as possible, and within ten days at the latest”.

And he went on to confirm that the regional development agencies had already committed to the same timetable, and that a similar policy was being adopted by other Government agencies.

“The Mandelson statement provides members with an ideal opportunity to challenge the payment practices adopted by their clients across the public sector,” insisted HVCA vice president Martin Burton.

Burton added that, whether they were working directly for the client or as a subcontractor, members should be highlighting the secretary of state’s message to their paymasters – and asking whether they were amending their payment policies as a result.

Members have also been requested to keep the Association informed of the actions they take and the responses they receive from clients, so that these can be fed back to the secretary of state and the appropriate BERR officials.