Flagship Conservative Council Fails to Pay Bills On Time |David Cameron asked to talk to Council Leader for explanation

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sun 25th Oct 2009

Monmouthshire holds on to the money that small companies are owed

Monmouthshire County Council, one of only two Welsh councils controlled by the Conservatives and held up as a 'flagship' council by the party, suffered humiliating criticism for being the worst council for paying its bills on time.

Local councils are supposed to pay all uncontested invoices - bills for everything from suppliers of food for school meals to major highway projects - within 30 days. Monmouthshire was the worst performing council in Wales for a second year running, failing to pay nearly a third of its bills on time within the 30 day target.

Local Liberal Democrat Assembly member, Michael German, described the performance of the Council as 'woeful' and said that Monmouthshire had to urgently address why it couldn't pay invoices on time: "In the current economic climate, paying on time makes all the difference whether a small business stays afloat or not. Monmouthshire is adding to the woes of small companies by taking a very casual approach to paying its bills on time."

"This is the second year in a row where the Tory flagship council in Wales has been shown to be the worst payer and flies in the face of their Party's leader who has been calling on local authorities to pay their bills on time for the last year. David Cameron wrote last year that more councils should make faster payment to suppliers to help them through the recession. I would invite him now to meet with the Council's Tory leader and get an explanation for this appalling performance."

Mr. German's echoed the worries by Phil McCabe from the Forum of Private Business (FPB), who is reported on the BBC saying that the issue is "life and death for small firms".

Mr. McCabe, speaking to the BBC, said: "You have a firm in one part of Wales who is able to survive because they're getting paid on time and a similar firm elsewhere that has to close their doors simply because they're not getting their invoices paid."

The local authority came in for further stinging criticism from Phil Hobson, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats on the Council: "The impact is that small firms will be forced to close if councils don't get their act together and pay their bills on time. Prompt payment is essential.

"Late payment is the biggest problem that local small and medium sized companies face today: the Conservative run council is failing to live up to the wishes of its party leader for prompt payment and to keep the cash flowing. This is the repeat of last year's terrible performance and the Council really has to get its act together quickly. This appalling performance is unacceptable."

Mr. Hobson has written to David Cameron, UK Conservative Party leader, asking him to call in the Council's Tory Leader, Peter Fox, for a 'friendly chat' and "an explanation as to why there is no sign of any improvement from the Conservative flagship council in Wales".