Rather than reversing the trend for late payments, a new directive from the EU could actually make matters worse, according to the FPB.
Many public sector organisations currently have a ten-day settlement target and the forum is concerned that the implementation of a standard 30 day period could cause those bodies to abandon speedy settlement. For example, recent FPB research shows that the NHS pays contractors within 10 days in 90% of cases. On the other hand, some organisations are unable to settle any invoices in 10 days and some struggle to pay 20% within 30 days.
Phil Orford, the chief executive of the FPB, agreed that the Late Payments Directive should help tackle the problem small businesses and freelancers are facing due to late settlement of invoices, which is currently thought to be costing the UK economy £24 billion.
However, he also pointed out that although not all public sector bodies have adopted the ten day payment rule, abandoning it would be a step backwards and could encourage those who currently pay up quickly to increase the waiting period for settlement.
Late payment of timesheets has become a real problem not only in the UK but across Europe as a whole. In Italy, the average public sector settlement time is a huge 100 days whilst private sector companies take an average of 66 days to pay their debts.
The FPB has long been campaigning for legislation to cope with the problem of late payment and the Prompt Payment Code was introduced to help combat the problem. However, signing up is optional and not many large businesses have pledged to settle in full and on time. And many small businesses remain reluctant to take on late payers through fear of losing the contract.
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Image: In Search Of Lost Time by bogenfreund
