Sadiq Khan: London mayor criticised for failing to pay small businesses on time
Sadiq Khan has been criticised for failing to hit a City Hall target to pay 90 per cent of small businesses’ invoices on time.
The mayor was quizzed by London Assembly members in the final Mayor’s Question Time (MQT) session of the year this week.
Conservative AM Peter Fortune questioned Khan on data showing he was failing to pay 90 per cent of small businesses’ for services supplied to City Hall on time.
Contracts could range from anything from event photography to catering.
City Hall figures show that in the three years before Khan was elected, the target was hit with either 93 or 94 per cent of invoices paid on time.
But figures for the years after the mayor’s election show a decline – with 89 per cent paid on time in 2016-17, 82 per cent in 2017-18, and 79 per cent in 2021-22.
The percentage dropped to 74 per cent – meaning over a quarter of invoices were paid late – in 2022-23, and Fortune said it was now between 72 and 77 per cent for 2023-24 so far.
Speaking at MQT, Fortune said: “This is something that you’ve got control of, that I’ve asked you about over and over again for a couple of years.
“You sign the cheques, and this is money going from here to small businesses that are dependent on this cash – and you haven’t gripped that area of responsibility.”
Asked if he would commit to meeting the target, Khan said he didn’t have the information to hand to answer the question, but added: “I’m more than happy to go and get the information and respond to the member this side of Christmas if possible.”
Khan also confirmed he was “more than happy” to meet with Fortune to discuss the issue further.
It comes after Fortune raised the same issue in 2021 and 2022. , Khan said the data was “simply not good enough”.
He said: “The reason for the heart-break is because the cash flow coming in is the difference between paying your bills and not paying your bills. To all those firms who have received payments later than they should have done I apologise. I am going to go and look into this personally… this has to be sorted out.”
When approached about the issue, a City Hall source pointed Morning Wire to Khan’s £62m investment into small businesses in London via the shared prosperity fund, which is part of a larger £144m being spent before March 2025. The cash is expected to create 4,500 jobs.