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<p>Government is clear that unfavourable payment practices is a serious issue. That
is why we have a range of measures in place with the aim to address the imbalance
in market power between parties, increase transparency and encourage better payment
practices through culture change.</p><p> </p><p>The Payment Practices and Performance
Reporting Requirement requires large businesses to report biannually on their payment
practices and performance. Businesses must publish this information on gov.uk, providing
transparency in payment practices and making payment behaviour a reputational, board
room issue. To date over 13,000 reports have been submitted.</p><p> </p><p>Government
continues to support the Prompt Payment Code as a best practice in payment standards.
Last year the Secretary of State announced a new, tough and transparent compliance
regime to ensure the Code is rigorously enforced. The Secretary of State also announced
that he had appointed the Small Business Commissioner to the Prompt Payment Code Compliance
Board.</p><p> </p><p>Last year Government launched a Call for Evidence to assess what
further steps and intervention may be needed to create a responsible payment culture.
A full response will be published shortly and will contain a full package of policy
measures.</p><p> </p><p>At Spring Statement Government announced that it will require
large company’s Audit Committees to review payments practices and report them in their
annual accounts. This will elevate payment practices to Board level and increase transparency.</p>
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