The leader of Lichfield District Council admits it is frustrating that the local authority is not managing to pay all suppliers within 30 days.
A report to a cabinet meeting this evening (14th December) revealed that 86.85% of bills were being paid within the timeframe – below the 90% target.
But Cllr Doug Pullen, leader of the council, said he was keen to see more work to help ensure companies are paid quickly.
“It frustrates me that we’re not making greater progress on that, but I’ve tasked the chief executive to get to 100% of payments to suppliers within 30 days by quarter one in 2023.
“Cash is king and we ought to be getting it paid as quickly as we can, which is why it’s hard baked into our objectives as an organisation.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
Cllr Pullen said there would always be some invoices where payment was delayed, but he was keen to see the figures reflect those that should be paid inside a 30 day window.
“There’s all sorts of reasons given as to why we’re struggling to achieve the target.
“Some of those might be disputed invoices, so we will be changing the metric that will say it’s going to be 100% of undisputed invoices.
“At the moment, if we’re arguing over 34p and not paying something, it still currently gets caught in the numbers – that will change.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
