Treasury needs to pay its bills on time

11.57.03am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 28th Jun 2005

The overall payment performance figures for each Government Department show that some are failing to pay as many as one in five of their bills on time.

Figures received from the Department of Trade and Industry today show that the Treasury pays only 81% of its bills on time and that the number of its bills paid late is increasing year on year. Other departments failing to pay promptly include the Home Office, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Northern Ireland Office.

Commenting on the figures, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor Vincent Cable said: "The Government claims to be committed to leading by example on improving the payment culture in the UK in order to create fair and stable business transactions. However, the figures that I have obtained today show that in some key departments, the incidence of on-time payments appears to be decreasing badly. It is absolutely appalling that the Treasury, the most powerful, flagship, economic department of government can't pay its bills on time."