Written question asked by Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative) on Thursday, 23 July 2026, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 6 August 2026. It was answered by Lord Leong (Labour) on Friday, 31 July 2026 on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.

Business: Billing

Question: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Leong on 21 July (HL Deb cols 1068-1070), what assessment they have made of the economic impact of the new section 2E(2) of the Commercial Payments and Interest on Late Payment Act 1998.

Answer

The Government has assessed section 2E(2) as part of the wider impact assessment for the Commercial Payments Bill as a whole, where the measures are aimed at addressing the estimated £11 billion cost of late payments to cost the UK economy each year.

Section 2E(2) provides a targeted exemption from the statutory payment term restrictions, where the purchaser is the smaller party, preserving flexibility for smaller purchasers when contracting with larger suppliers. The impact assessment looks at the costs of businesses identifying and implementing exemptions. Exemptions introduce additional administrative burdens for businesses, with larger estimated costs for large businesses compared to smaller ones. The full assessment can be found in the costs and benefits analysis annex of the published impact assessment: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69c054b11263ce46c3690c7c/prompt-payments-primary-legislation-impact-assessment.pdf

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: HL2757
Session: 2026-27
Attachment: Impact Assessment Prompt Payments
Related items: Commercial Payments Bill [HL]
Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Proceeding contributions
House of Lords
Subjects: Business Billing Finance Enforcement
Legislation: Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk

Business: Billing

Secondary information

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