FOI Request 2176

Subject: Late Payments

Status: Complete

Date received: June 2025

Question Asked:

This is a request under FOIA for details of instances in which Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service (including, where applicable, any agencies, bodies, or units for which it is ultimately responsible for supplier payments) has failed to pay its suppliers on time, thereby causing liabilities for late payment compensation and/or interest on late payments to be incurred for the public purse.

As the Government has made clear, late payment remains a significant issue for business and a drag on the UK economy as a whole. It is clear that, despite what the law says, many suppliers have not received timely payment or the interest and compensation for late payment to which they are entitled by statute.

Public authorities must keep information on payment in order to comply with their legal obligations, and there is a public interest in ensuring both compliance and that unpaid interest and compensation is recovered from public authorities. If proper records are kept as they ought to be, then information in this respect ought readily to be available.

The information requested below is not confidential, and its disclosure under FOIA is not capable of adversely affecting any party’s commercial interests. This is because this request is aimed at data about late payment liabilities that have in fact arisen; the disclosure of this data cannot cause any additional liability to arise. We therefore do not anticipate any reasonable grounds for refusing this request.

In any event, there is strong public interest in transparency about these matters. Relevant factors in this respect include: enhancing public understanding and scrutiny of issues of significant importance to stewardship of the public purse and to economic growth; facilitating an informed debate about compliance by your authority with its contractual obligations and with Government policy; helping businesses that suffer from late payment (many of which are small and medium-sized enterprises), and encouraging improvements in payment practices by public authorities such as yours.

With the above points in mind, we request under FOIA that you provide the following information in respect of suppliers which were not paid in within 30 days for the period starting 1 April 2023 to the date of this request:

• Supplier Name

• Invoice Date

• Gross Invoice Value

• Payment Date

• Late Payment Compensation or Interest Paid (if any)

Our Response:

Please see our response below to your Freedom of Information Request.

Please find full year data for 2023-24:

foi_2176_2023.24_data.pdf

Please find full year data for 2024-25:

foi_2176_2024.25_data.pdf

Outcome: Information Provided

FOI responded to within timescales: YES

Further action: NO