Date of Request
22/06/2025
Request
Request for Information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (‘FOIA’)
Information on late payment
This is a request under FOIA for details of instances in which Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue (including, where applicable, any agencies, bodies, or units for which it is ultimately responsible for supplier payments) has failed to pay its suppliers on time, thereby causing liabilities for late payment compensation and/or interest on late payments to be incurred for the public purse.
As the Government has made clear, late payment remains a significant issue for business and a drag on the UK economy as a whole. It is clear that, despite what the law says, many suppliers have not received timely payment or the interest and compensation for late payment to which they are entitled by statute.
Public authorities must keep information on payment in order to comply with their legal obligations, and there is a public interest in ensuring both compliance and that unpaid interest and compensation is recovered from public authorities. If proper records are kept as they ought to be, then information in this respect ought readily to be available.
The information requested below is not confidential, and its disclosure under FOIA is not capable of adversely affecting any party’s commercial interests. This is because this request is aimed at data about late payment liabilities that have in fact arisen: the disclosure of this data cannot cause any additional liability to arise. We therefore do not anticipate any reasonable grounds for refusing this request.
In any event, there is strong public interest in transparency about these matters. Relevant factors in this respect include: enhancing public understanding and scrutiny of issues of significant importance to stewardship of the public purse and to economic growth; facilitating an informed debate about compliance by your authority with its contractual obligations and with Government policy; helping businesses that suffer from late payment (many of which are small and medium-sized enterprises), and encouraging improvements in payment practices by public authorities such as yours.
Request
With the above points in mind, we request under FOIA that you provide, (preferably in Microsoft Excel or an equivalent machine-readable format) the following information in respect of suppliers which were not paid in within 30 days for the period starting 1 April 2019 to the date of this request:
- Supplier Name
- Invoice Date
- Gross Invoice Value
- Payment Date
- Late Payment Compensation or Interest Paid (if any)
Clarification:
We reiterate that this request:
(a) is limited to information which should (if proper records are kept) be readily available from a purchase ledger system and should therefore be possible to retrieve without any difficulty and without imposing any significant burden;
(b) relates to organisations (not individuals) who are entitled to be paid out of public funds for public services, and we do not require the disclosure of any personal information of any individual person;
(c) does not require the disclosure of any confidential information or information to the production of which there could be any other lawful objection.
Compliance Assistance:
While we do not anticipate any grounds on which the requested information can lawfully be withheld, we nonetheless remind you of your duty under section 16 of FOIA to advise and assist requesters.
If you consider that it may be impracticable to provide all the requested information within the statutory timescales, then we shall be pleased to discuss with you the reasons for this, and to see what steps may reasonably be taken in order the address these.
For example, we would be content to receive the information in several parts, in another convenient format (such as that which you may already have), or to prioritise (such as by the provision of greater value items, or by date).
If there be any other steps which you think could reasonably assist in providing the information, or refining the request, then please let me know.
Contact Details:
If you have any queries or require clarification, I would be happy to discuss this request.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to your response.
Yours faithfully
Response
Hi
We thank you for your request for information, which has been received by Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (the Service) and considered under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000. Once again, our sincere apologies for the delay in forwarding this to you.
The Service can confirm that the information that you have requested is held as per the attached document and can also be found via the following link: https://www.hwfire.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Prompt-Payment-010419-200825.pdf
Unfortunately not all of contextual fields you’ve referenced are currently available, but the system is currently quite new to the Service. We will look to add them to the next set of information we publish if possible.
If you have any questions regarding your request, please contact Information Governance and Committee Services on tel: 0345 122 4454 or by e-mail informationrequests@hwfire.org.uk. In any such communication please include the reference number assigned (see Subject).
Should you have any queries regarding the management of your request and wish to make either a complaint or request a review of the information disclosed to you, please do so by using Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service’s complaints system: Comments and Complaints. This must be done within 40 working days of our response to your request. After this date and in line with ICO guidance the Service is not obliged to provide an internal review of your request.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you may appeal the decision by contacting the Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF, Tel: 0303 123 1113 (alternatively 01625 545745) or E-mail: casework@ico.org.uk.
Further information on Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service may be viewed at the Service’s website: www.hwfire.org.uk
Thank you for your request for information.
Information Governance Team