Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill

Insert the following new Clause—

“Needs and requirements of small and medium sized enterprises

(1)     The Secretary of State shall provide a report on the future needs and
requirements of the small and medium enterprise sector for the next ten
years with regard to—

(a)   access to advice;

(b)   access to finance;

(c)   access and support to engage in the export sector;

(d)   training;

(e)   recruitment of apprentices.

(2)     This report shall be published within six months of the passing of this Act
and shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament.

Page 1, line 10, leave out paragraph (c)

Page 3, line 40, leave out “may” and insert “shall”

Page 3, line 43, after “policies” insert “and performance”

Page 4, line 28, at end insert—

“( )     “Performance” has such meaning as may be prescribed, and the
information which may be prescribed shall in particular include
information on late payment of invoices by the company, to be included in
a quarterly report which shall include—

(a)   lists of all payments to suppliers which were made over 30 days
after the date indicated by the suppliers’ agreed payment terms,
without a formal query having been registered with the suppliers
within a period as may be prescribed;

(b)   confirmation, for each instance listed under paragraph (a), that
interest, equalling the Bank of England base rate plus 8% APR, was
paid to compensate the supplier for overdue payment;

(c)   assurance, for each instance listed under paragraph (a) where
confirmation of compensation under paragraph (b) cannot be
provided, of a payment plan in place to compensate suppliers on
the basis set out in that paragraph; and

(d)   assurance from the relevant auditor that the company is
maintaining accurate and honest financial records and statements
as outlined in subsections (1) and (2) of section 498 of the
Companies Act 2006 (duties of auditor).”

Page 4, line 31, at end insert—

“( )     A person making a false report of payment performance commits an
offence and shall be subject to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum
on summary conviction.”

Page 4, line 40, at end insert—

“(7A)    It shall be an offence for a company to fail to complete a payment plan to
compensate a supplier where payment to that supplier has been made
more than 30 days after the date indicated by that supplier’s agreed
payment terms.

(7B)    A company committing an offence under subsection (7A) shall be subject
to a fine not exceeding the amount of the invoice or £10,000 on summary
conviction.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Companies: dealing with suppliers

(1)     The Secretary of State may make regulations—

(a)   imposing a limit on the number of days after receipt of a supplier’s
invoice a company can seek to challenge that invoice,

(b)   prohibiting the practice of a company seeking to change the
payment terms of a supplier company unilaterally, and

(c)   prohibiting a company from requiring a supplier company to make
a payment in order to join that company’s list of suppliers.

(2)     The regulations may make provision for a prescribed breach by a
prescribed description of person of a requirement or prohibition imposed
by the regulations to be an offence punishable on summary conviction—

(a)   in England and Wales, by a fine;

(b)   in Scotland or Northern Ireland, by a fine not exceeding level 5 on
the standard scale.

(3)     The regulations may specify the size of company and supplier company to
which they will apply.

(4)     Before making regulations under this section, the Secretary of State must
consult such persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(5)     Regulations under this section are subject to affirmative resolution
procedure.

(6)     For the purposes of this section—

“company” has the meaning given by section 1(1) of the Companies
Act 2006;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Prompt Payment Code: duties of the Secretary of State

(1)     The Secretary of State shall ensure that any business with payment terms
of more than 60 days cannot sign up to the Prompt Payment Code, and that
any existing signatory with payment terms of more than 60 days is
removed from the list.

(2)     At the end of each financial year, the Secretary of State shall write to all
businesses in the FTSE 350 who are not signatories of the Prompt Payment
Code asking them to become so.

(3)     The Secretary of State shall publish a list of those businesses written to,
prominently on the Government’s website.”

Page 5, line 8, at end insert—

“(c)   a duty on designated banks and designated credit reference
agencies to provide information about the criteria used to calculate
the credit score of a small and medium sized business customer to
such customers.”

Page 5, line 18, at end insert—

“( )     The regulations must provide that the duty in subsection (1)(c) only applies
where a small or medium sized business makes a request to a designated
credit reference agency or bank.”

Page 5, line 27, at end insert—

“( )   to which the duty in subsection (1)(c) applies;”

Page 6, line 6, at end insert—

“( )     For the purposes of this section, a designated bank or designated credit
reference agency may only share information that has been specifically
identified by the business to which the information relates.”

Page 6, line 6, at end insert—

“( )     Before making regulations under subsection (1), the Treasury shall carry
out an impact assessment which will examine—

(a)   costs incurred by the bank, credit reference agency and business;
and

(b)   the impact that costs incurred will have on the final cost of
borrowing for small and medium sized enterprises.”

Page 7, line 37, at end insert—

“( )     The Secretary of State shall report annually on the number of times
regulations have been made under the provisions outlined in this section,
and how often they have been used.”

Page 8, line 43, leave out subsection (8) and insert—

“(7A)    Credit information regulations shall provide a small or medium sized
business with the right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman seeking a
determination requiring a designated credit reference agency to rectify,
block, erase or destroy data held about the complainant.

(7B)    In section 226A(2) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000
(consumer credit jurisdiction), after paragraph (f) insert—

Page 9, line 3, leave out “negative” and insert “affirmative”

Page 9, line 9, leave out paragraph (b)

Page 12, line 4, leave out “negative” and insert “affirmative”

Page 12, line 17, at end insert—

Page 12, line 21, at end insert—

“( )     After subsection (1A) of section 1 (assistance in connection with exports of
goods and services) insert—

Insert the following new Clause—

“Government impact on small business performance: duty to report

(1)     The Secretary of State must provide an annual report to each House of
Parliament setting out steps the Government has taken to support British
small and medium sized businesses over the previous 12 months.

(2)     The report mentioned in subsection (1) must be made no more than 10
sitting days before, or after, the end of each financial year following the
coming into force of this Act.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Duty to keep register updated

(1)     The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision prescribing the
steps to be taken by the registrar of companies to ensure that the
information on PSC registers or as the case may be the central register is as
accurate, reliable and up to date as possible.

(2)     Regulations under this section are subject to the affirmative resolution
procedure.”

Page 159, line 30, at end insert—

Page 159, line 41, at end insert—

Page 160, line 7, at end insert—

Page 162, leave out lines 32 to 40

Page 171, line 20, at end insert—