FPB hits out at Defra minister's insult to unpaid contractors.

A leading business pressure group is dismayed by the flippant and insulting response given by Elliot Morley, Minister for Environment and Agri-Environment at Defra, to a parliamentary question about the continuing scandal of unpaid invoices for the Foot and Mouth clean-up. Nick Goulding, Forum of Private Business (FPB) Chief Executive, has described the response as 'insulting', given the efforts of Cumbria Waste Management Ltd and other contractors to bring to an end a national crisis.

Mr Morley said: "To pay out money without normal accounting methods and procedures is an irresponsible use of public funds. If that is the attitude of the Conservative party towards anybody, whether a private or a public company, who gives them a gigantic bill without proper accounting and says 'pay up,' that bodes badly for the future of the Conservatives," in response to a question raised in a recent Commons debate on the Carlisle flood from opposition chief whip David McLean.

Nick Goulding said: "Cumbria Waste Management Ltd (CWM), like the majority of the small businesses who threw their weight behind the clean-up operation during a time of national crisis, contributed a great deal of time and effort to the crisis in good faith. CWM has waited for almost four years for a final settlement of outstanding invoices, as have many other firms across the country. What is hugely ironic is that, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cumbrian County Council, we have a situation whereby the Government is being sued by another arm of the Government, and it's the Cumbrian council tax payers that will catch the cold.'

"While we have no objection to the department attempting to protect the public purse by insisting on proper invoicing, many of the contractors with outstanding debts insist they did all that they could to get the correct paperwork in place under extreme circumstances. For Mr Morley to imply that 'proper accounting' was not in place takes no account of the circumstances under which contractors were operating and is, frankly, insulting."

Mr Goulding continued, "Many of the contractors involved in the crisis have been subjected to over three years of forensic accounting at the hands of Defra officials, which in itself has cost millions to carry out. It is time that the Government brought to a close the whole sorry episode and committed to settling all bona fide outstanding invoices at the earliest opportunity."

FPB BACKGROUND:

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) was formed in 1977 and is a pressure group fighting on behalf of private businesses. The FPB represents approximately 25,000 UK-based businesses employing in excess of 600,000 people, and is a powerful lobbying voice in both the UK and the European Union.

The FPB, as the only full UK member of UEAPME – the organisation that represents small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe – is the most prominent advocate of UK SMEs in Brussels and has a track record of positively affecting legislation prior to its introduction in the UK .

The FPB also provides a range of business services aimed at increasing member efficiency and profitability. Visit www.fpb.org

Head Office:
Ruskin Chambers
Drury Lane
Knutsford
Cheshire
WA16 6HA

  (20/1/05)