Richard Arkless – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how his Department monitors the obligations it places on its subcontractors to pay bills within 30 days.

Harriett Baldwin

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is committed to implementing a prompt payment policy throughout the supply chain. We place a contractual obligation on our prime contractors to pay their subcontractors within 30 days.

As with all contractual issues, in relation to direct contracts between the MOD and its suppliers, we would investigate any breaches to contract conditions on a case-by-case basis. While there is currently no established method of monitoring prompt payment outside of our direct contracts, we are working to update MOD contractual conditions to strengthen the prompt payment obligation throughout the supply chain.