Council slow at paying its bills (From Evesham Journal)
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Council slow at paying its bills
10:00am Thursday 4th October 2012 in News By Tom Edwards
SMALL traders in Worcestershire are having to wait longer than expected for their bills to be paid by the county council.
New figures show 11 per cent of the bills being paid out by County Hall take more than 30 days to be finalised.
The figure, which relates to the 2012/13 financial year so far, was debated during a meeting of the full council.
Councillor Fran Oborski said: “I find it regrettable that 11 per cent of all our bills are not paid within 30 days.
“Small traders really do need the money flowing – I want to see us taking this seriously.
“We talk a lot about trying do whatever we can to help the local economy, well, paying our bills on time is something we really should be able to achieve.”
The council has to fork out for hundreds of bills each year, including everything from minor repair work at County Hall to projects in schools.
Typically, a large majority of the work is done by small companies or individual traders.
Despite the figure being criticised, 89 per cent of the demands being met settled within 30 days is one of the best performances bosses have been able to achieve in recent years.
The authority said many of the bills get delayed “in the system”
because there are third parties involved, or they need to liaise with schools.
Councillor Adrian Hardman, leader of the council, said: “Although we do spend a lot of time and effort trying to get these bills paid as quickly as possible, we can always do better.
“I am afraid to say that most of the delays are from bills to do with schools.
“I agree that by and large, there is room for improvement, but I don’t have a magic wand to solve it straightaway.
“A lot of the delays are also due to third parties being involved in the process.”
- Have you been affected by the delay? Call Tom Edwards on 01905 742248 or e-mail te@worcesternews.co.uk
Comments(9)
More Tea Vicar
says...
11:49am Thu 4 Oct 12
Maybe the same principle ought to be applied to paying council staff. Pay their wages on time 89 per cent of the time.
I wonder if the high absenteeism rates in local government contribute to the lack of punctuality. How many staff are actually working at any given time if so many of them are on 'sick leave'.
If 89 per cent is 'the best in recent years', it makes you wonder what was going on before.
Arthur Blenkinsop
says...
12:58pm Thu 4 Oct 12
ons?
Hwicce
says...
1:39pm Thu 4 Oct 12
Anyone who is having trouble with being paid should try phoning the Council and threatening them with the small claims court if they are not paid on time.
If they are not responsive then look at Money Claims On Line which is the MoJ mechanism for submitting small claims easily.
More Tea Vicar
says...
3:50pm Thu 4 Oct 12
Hwicce wrote:Good point. But all the time, the small trader is having to devote valuable time and resource, and possibly risk going under.
Small Traders are entitled to compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts laws brought in several years ago. As soon as the bill exceeds the payment terms the compensation (starting at £40 per bill) becomes liable.
Anyone who is having trouble with being paid should try phoning the Council and threatening them with the small claims court if they are not paid on time.
If they are not responsive then look at Money Claims On Line which is the MoJ mechanism for submitting small claims easily.
The Council official gets paid either way. Bears no expense, risk or responsibility.
That is the problem in the relationship. The small trader, who is paying the Council employees' wages, takes the risk, the trouble and the expense. The Council employee just gets paid, and doesn't need to worry.
Bit like the planners involved in the South Worcs Destruction Plan. Local residents have to spend their own time and money opposing them, while they just take the salary - paid for by the very people whose lives they're wrecking.
It would be great if there was a mechanism to re-balance things. So Council staff get to pay, from their own pockets, when they really cause problems for others.
Omicron
says...
5:37pm Thu 4 Oct 12
Many businesses used to present their invoices with the wrong price on it or some unauthorised additional cost and if the invoice was incorrect it had to be returned with a note explaining why the invoice could not be paid. As soon as the corrected invoice was received and/or reasons for additions fully explained so they could be authorised then the invoice was paid.
Time and time again businesses were advised on the best way to present their invoices to enable prompt payment. Those that heeded the advice had no problem - those that didn't could ecounter problems.
There were even times when we had to plead with some businesses to submit their invoices as WCC hated carrying forward the sums of money allocated for invoice payment as this created additional work - especially at the end of the financial year.
In other words 89% of invoices were presented correctly and 11% were not.
TheIndependentPolitician
says...
8:51pm Thu 4 Oct 12
saucerer
says...
2:44pm Sat 6 Oct 12
More Tea Vicar wrote:I suspect very few that go on sick leave are actually sick, while those that are at work actually do little work anyway, spending most of the time nattering, drinking tea, reading magazines, surfing the internet or are at the pub. This explains why no-one is ever around at County Hall when you want to speak to someone.
//Despite the figure being criticised, 89 per cent of the demands being met settled within 30 days is one of the best performances bosses have been able to achieve in recent years.//
Maybe the same principle ought to be applied to paying council staff. Pay their wages on time 89 per cent of the time.
I wonder if the high absenteeism rates in local government contribute to the lack of punctuality. How many staff are actually working at any given time if so many of them are on 'sick leave'.
If 89 per cent is 'the best in recent years', it makes you wonder what was going on before.
Omicron
says...
6:27pm Sat 6 Oct 12
Can you substantiate that statement saucerer.
If not that an apology would be in order
Arthur Blenkinsop says...
11:13am Thu 4 Oct 12