Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what proportion of invoices from small and medium-sized businesses were paid by his Department within five working days of receipt in the last 12 months for which figures are is available.
John Penrose: The Department's payment systems do not currently distinguish between payments to large and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Both are given equal priority.
During the period June 2010 to May 2011, the Department's overall performance against the Government's target of paying 80% of valid invoices within five working days was 74.1%.