Payment practices – statutory review of the regulations published

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has published its statutory review of the Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance Regulations 2017. This follows its call for evidence on the Regulations issued in November 2021 (see our blog post here).

Large UK companies and LLPs are required to report on their payment practices, policies and performance every six months and submit that report to a Government-hosted website for publication. The aim is to increase transparency and public scrutiny of large businesses’ payment practices and performance, and to give small businesses better information so that they can make informed decisions about who to trade with, negotiate fairer terms and challenge late payments. See our briefing on the regime for further detail.

The Government:

• has concluded that the Regulations, combined with the voluntary Prompt Payment Code, have driven improvements in payment practices;
• will undertake further consultation on the Regulations to decide whether to amend their expiry date beyond 6 April 2024; and
• will take into account feedback received to the Government proposal in the “Restoring trust in audit and corporate governance” White Paper – to require companies to include a summary of their payment practices in their annual reports – as part of the future consultation on the Regulations (see our briefing on the consultation here).