Companies who pay suppliers late to be fined
Sir Keir Starmer said "It's time to pay up" as the government is set to unveil plans to give the small business commissioner powers to fine large companies that persistently pay their suppliers late.
Under the new legislation, businesses will have to pay their suppliers within 30 days of receiving a valid invoice, unless otherwise agreed, with spot checks to help identify breaches.
Maximum payment terms of 60 days, reducing to 45 days, will also be introduced as part of the legislation to ensure businesses are paid on time.
Late payments cost the UK economy £11 billion a year and shut down 38 businesses a day, the government said.
The new law will save small and medium businesses time so they can focus on growing their revenue, it added.
Sir Keir said: "From builders and electricians to freelance designers and manufacturers - too many hardworking people are being forced to spend precious hours chasing payments instead of doing what they do best - growing their businesses.
"It's unfair, it's exhausting, and it's holding Britain back. So, our message is clear: it's time to pay up.
"Through our Small Business Plan, we're not only tackling the scourge of late payments once and for all, but we're giving small business owners the backing and stability they need for their business to thrive, driving growth across the country through our Plan for Change."
The late payment crackdown is part of a wider government package, including a move to pump £4bn of financial support into small business start-ups and growth.
This will include £1bn for new firms, with 69,000 start-up loans and mentoring support.
9:00
The Conservatives said the crackdown will be welcome, but fails to address the "218,000 businesses that have closed under Labour".
Andrew Griffith, the Tory shadow business secretary, added: "The reality for businesses under Labour is a doubling of business rates, a £25billion jobs tax and a full-on strangulation of employment red tape.
"Only the Conservatives are on the side of the makers and will support businesses across Britain to create jobs and wealth."
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has increased employers' national insurance, raised the minimum wage and lowered the threshold at which employers' national insurance is paid.
The Resolution Foundation said this hits the cost of low-paid and part-time workers the most.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Gordon Brown calls for gambling tax to cut child poverty
Former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown has repeated his call for higher taxes on gambling to lift half a million children out of has backed a think tank report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), saying the move could raise £3.2bn to fund scrapping the two-child limit and benefit who was also chancellor under Tony Blair, said taxing online casinos and slot machines would be "the first crucial step in the war we must wage against child poverty".A spokesperson for the Betting and Gaming Council rejected the proposals, describing them as "economically reckless" and claiming they could push gamblers onto the black market. The Department for Media, Culture and Sport has been contacted for comment. The two-child limit and benefit cap affects 1.6 million children and is blamed for rising rates of food insecurity by anti-poverty campaigners, who say getting rid of the cap is the "single most effective" step the chancellor could take to reduce child two-child limit restricts child tax credit and universal credit (UC) to the first two children in most households, while the benefit cap sees the amount of benefits a household receives reduced to ensure claimants do not get more than the government is expected to publish a child poverty strategy in autumn, and children's charities and campaign groups have been united in calling for the two-child limit to be in the Guardian, Brown states: "Britain is now enduring the worst levels of child poverty since modern records began, even worse than in the Thatcher-Major years, and far worse than in most European countries..."These are austerity's children, the victims of 14 years of Tory rule, an era whose most vindictive act was to treat newborn third and fourth children as second-class citizens, depriving them of all the income support available to their first and second siblings."Flagging that child poverty is set to rise to "a wholly unacceptable" 4.8 million, Brown urges Chancellor Rachel Reeves to make "a straightforward budget choice" to raise taxes on online gambling companies to fund tackling child proposals focus on online gambling firms - the fast-growing part of the industry - and avoid any changes to bingo or lotteries. The IPPR suggested increasing taxes on online casinos from 21% to 50% and raising those on slots and gaming machines from 20% to 50%.Many online gambling firms are based offshore and pay little or no UK corporation tax, the IPPR report flags, and already benefits from unique tax advantages, including a complete exemption from VAT. The IPPR said raising gambling taxes in the way they suggested would be unlikely to reduce overall government Parkes, principal economist and head of quantitative research at IPPR, said: "The gambling industry is highly profitable, yet is exempt from paying VAT and often pays no corporation tax, with many online firms based offshore. "It is also inescapable that gambling causes serious harm, especially in its most high-stakes forms."Set against a context of stark and rising levels of child poverty, it only feels fair to ask this industry to contribute a little more."But a spokesperson for the Betting and Gaming Council said they rejected the "economically reckless, factually misleading" proposals which they insisted "risk driving huge numbers to the growing, unsafe, unregulated gambling black market, which doesn't protect consumers and contributes zero tax".They added: "Further tax rises, fresh off the back of government reforms which cost the sector over a billion in lost revenue, would do more harm than good - for punters, jobs, growth and public finances." Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Lyft misses quarterly revenue estimates on competition, weak US travel demand
Aug 6 (Reuters) - Lyft (LYFT.O), opens new tab missed second-quarter revenue estimates on Wednesday, pressured by mounting competition from Uber and softening U.S. travel demand, sending its shares down 7% in after-hours trading. Larger rival Uber Technologies (UBER.N), opens new tab, which offers ride-hailing, food and grocery delivery business globally, beat revenue estimates and issued an upbeat forecast for the third-quarter earlier in the day. Demand for travel to the U.S. has fallen this year, and analysts expect the slump to continue through 2025 as economic uncertainty, trade tensions and visa backlogs make the country less appealing to international visitors. Lyft, which is expanding beyond its North America, posted revenue of $1.59 billion in the second quarter, missing estimates of $1.61 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Rides on its platform grew 14% to a record high of 234.8 million, slightly below estimates of 235.9 million, according to 27 analysts polled by Visible Alpha. Lyft recently completed its nearly $200 million acquisition of European mobility platform FreeNow and has signed a deal with China's Baidu ( opens new tab to introduce the search engine giant's robotaxis in the region. Meanwhile, Uber, which has 20 global partnerships for self-driving technology, said it was in talks with private equity firms and banks to finance the deployment of robotaxis. Lyft on Wednesday also announced a partnership, set to launch later this year, with United Airlines (UAL.O), opens new tab that will allow the carrier's customers to earn rewards on all Lyft rides. With partnerships including DoorDash (DASH.O), opens new tab and Chase already in place, Lyft's entry into Europe positions the company to extend such collaborations into international markets. Lyft said it expects gross bookings to be between $4.65 billion and $4.80 billion for the third quarter, well above estimates of $4.59 billion. The company also reported earnings of 10 cents per share for the June quarter, more than double analysts' expectations of 4 cents. With growth stagnating in major U.S. metros, ride-hailing companies are shifting their focus to medium and smaller car-dependent cities to tap into new markets and drive revenue. Lyft recorded an adjusted core earnings of $129.4 million in the second quarter, above the average estimate of $124.5 million. It forecast current-quarter core earnings of $125 million to $145 million, largely in line with Wall Street estimates.
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Labour minister for homelessness ‘threw out tenants then hiked rent by £700 a month' ahead of law change to BAN doing it
A LABOUR homelessness minister evicted four tenants from her townhouse before upping the monthly rent by £700. Rushanara Ali threw out the people living at her east London property and later re-listed it for hundreds more, as reported by The i Paper. 2 2 According to the news outlet, the Labour MP previously rented the four-bedroom townhouse out for £3,300 a month. But new tenants were forced to fork out an eye-watering £4,000 a month for the home - a stone's throw away from Olympic Park. The landlord MP, who owns two rental properties, is known for her fight against private renters"being exploited" and championed reform against "unreasonable rent increases". In fact, Labour's Renters' Rights Bill will ban landlords who are trying to sell their property from relisting it for higher rent less than six months after tenants move out. The new law is expected to come into force next year. Conservative shadow Housing Secretary, James Cleverly, said the allegations against Ms Ali 'would be an example of the most extreme hypocrisy and that she should not have the job as homelessness minister'. Laura Jackson was one of the four people who rented from Ms Ali. The self-employed restaurant owner was told in November she had four months to leave. Ms Jackson, 33, told The i Paper: 'It's an absolute joke. Trying to get that much money from renters is extortion'. The property was managed on Ali's behalf by two lettings agencies, Jack Barclay Estates and Avenue Lettings. Watch as housing minister reveals new plans to protect tenants They told tenants they'd be charged nearly a staggering £2,400 for the house to be repainted and professionally cleaned. But landlords are not allowed to charge tenants for professional cleaning under the Tenant Fees Act 2019. Ms Jackson dubbed the "exploitative" charges "ridiculous and unfair". However, they were dropped when the firms were told the landlord was a Labour MP. It is understood Ms Ali was told of the fees and cancelled them. Ben Twomey, the chief executive of Generation Rent, said: 'These allegations are shocking and a wake-up call to Government on the need to push ahead as quickly as possible to improve protections for renters. 'It is bad enough when any landlord turfs out their tenant to hike up the rent, or tries their luck with unfair claims on the deposit, but the minister responsible for homelessness knows only too well about the harm caused by this behaviour.' A source close to Ms Ali told The i Paper her tenants were told their tenancy would not be renewed. They were reportedly offered a rolling contract before the house went up for sale. The townhouse was only relisted for rent after she did not find a buyer, said the insider. A spokesperson for Ms Ali said: 'Rushanara takes her responsibilities seriously and complied with all relevant legal requirements.' The property is on sale for £894,990, reduced from £914,995 listed last November. It comes as The Renters' Reform Bill is expected to come into force next year. The far-reaching bill will ban Section 21, also known as "no fault" evictions, as well as prevent landlords from increasing rents to deliberately squeeze hard-up renters out of their homes. The delay to the ban on Section 21 notices, as first reported by The Financial Times, is the first in a string of push backs. A host of other changes are included in the legislation including ensuring possession grounds are fair to both parties. This will give tenants more security but also allow landlords to recover their properties "when reasonable". Providing stronger protections against backdoor eviction will also be enforced. This will ensure tenants can appeal above-market rents which are designed to force them out. A new Private Rented Sector Landlord will be introduced to the Ombudsman, meaning renters can get impartial help if they have a grievance with their landlord. Tenants are also set to receive strengthened rights to request a pet in the property - a landlord will have to consider this and cannot refuse it unreasonably. Meanwhile Awaab's Law is due to be applied to the sector to clear legal expectations about the time frames within which landlords in the private rented sector have to take action to make homes safe where they contain serious hazards.
