Spring Statement; CIPR welcomes plan to tackle late payments
In his Spring Statement Chancellor, Philip Hammond reiterated the government’s commitment to “tackle the scourge of late payments” to small businesses, announced a year ago.
A full review is due to be published which will include the Chancellor’s announced plans designed to tackle late payments by requiring company’s audit committees to review and report on their own failure to pay suppliers in good time.
The CIPR has long pushed for late payments to be addressed to support SMEs and independent practitioners. Research by the Federation of Small Business estimates this would be worth an extra £2.5bn to the UK economy.
Late payments place unnecessary pressures on individuals and small businesses – who make up a significant proportion of the public relations sector. Bad practice has gone on for years and this announcement, shining a light on the guilty, is a welcome move.
Elsewhere in the Statement, the Chancellor outlined plans to address concerns around unfair competition in the tech sector and called on digital businesses to ensure the “public are protected from online harms”. There were also calls to boost productivity in the UK through a National Productivity Investment Fund and a commitment to deliver full fibre network across the country by 2033.
About the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR)
Founded in 1948, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is the Royal Chartered professional body for public relations practitioners in the UK and overseas. The CIPR is the largest membership organisation for PR practitioners outside of North America. By size of turnover and number of individually registered members, we are the leading representative body for the PR profession and industry in Europe.
The CIPR advances professionalism in public relations by making its members accountable to their employers and the public through a code of conduct and searchable public register, setting standards through training, qualifications, awards and the production of best practice and skills guidance, facilitating Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and awarding Chartered Public Relations Practitioner status (Chart.PR).