![[Freelance]](../gif/fl3H.png)
Small change on late payments
Cash, in hand
HIS MAJESTY the King confirmed in his speech to parliament on Wednesday 13 May that there will be a Small Business Protections (Late Payments) Bill. Back on 24 March the UK government announced that this will be “the most ambitious legislation to tackle late payments in over 25 years”.
The professional pedants among us will note that competition for this status is not fierce. Prime among that competition we find the The Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2013 - but this government mustn't mention those because they implemented an EU Regulation that remains a Good Thing. Among other things it allows us to claim the actual costs of recovering a payment if these were more than the statutory compensation.
We find no trace of the promised Bill. Government promises include:
- preventing “large firms” imposing a payment period longer than 60 days when paying smaller suppliers - with “strictly limited exceptions”;
- giving the Small Business Commissioner (SBC) powers to investigate poor payment practices;
- giving the SBC powers to adjudicate payment disputes;
- giving the SBC powers to fine the worst offenders; and
- a requirement for all commercial contracts to include statutory interest set at 8 per cent above the Bank of England base rate
That last point is a particular stretch toward the “most ambitious” goal, since it requires contracts to state something that has been a statutory requirement since 1998. There is also a promise to ban the withholding of retention payments under the terms of construction contracts, which could if enacted without conditions be a blow to anyone who has made an unwise choice of builder.
It remains to be seen whether the Bill can be improved by amendments. We need to watch out for the promised adjudication preventing access to the Small Claims Court.
In March Tim Dawson of the NUJ Freelance Office said of the proposals: “here is a lot more to do if we are to rid our industry of abusive practices. We must continue to push for fundamental changes for freelances, including requiring payment on completion of work and introducing a statutory right for freelances to trades union recognition.”
We find nothing else in the Speech that explicitly affects freelances as freelance journalists. As subjects of His Majesty, we are alarmed at the Newspeak titles of the NHS Modernisation Bill and Courts Modernisation Bill and expect to be fighting them.
The Gong it tolls for late payers