SELECT has backed a new campaign by The Specialist Engineering Contractors’ (SEC) Group that urges all parliamentary candidates to vow to crack down on late payments.
Ahead of the upcoming General Election, the SEC Group is seeking to obtain a commitment from potential MPs that they will support legislation to:
- Mandate 30-day payment terms on all public sector contracts and sub-contracts
- Impose penalties on serial late payers
- Legislate for the use of project bank accounts in public sector construction/infrastructure projects, and
- Legislate to protect cash retentions in a secure account for firms in constructions supply chains.
Alan Wilson, MD of trade body SELECT said, “Late payment has been a running sore throughout the construction industry for far too long and we wholly support SEC Group’s UK-wide campaign to demand an end to a scandalous practice which damages the economy and ruins lives. As representatives of electro-technical industry employers in Scotland, we are all too aware of the impact that late payment has on the mental health of many of our members.
“Even this year, tragically, we have seen people go to the brink of suicide and beyond because of the stress they are under in trying to run their business. SELECT fully endorses SEC Group’s call for all members to lobby their prospective candidates to support an urgent change in the law.”
A recent industry survey found that 85% of Scottish electrical business leaders have suffered with stress and 38% with depression due to ‘late or unfair’ payments.
