To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the effect on the time taken to make payments to subcontractors of the requirement on Government bodies to pay invoices submitted by tier one contractors within 10 days. (258749)

[holding answer 25 February 2009]: Prompt payment helps the cash flow of sub-contracting companies. Departments are encouraging their tier one contractors to pass on the 10 day payment terms to their subcontractors.