Boris Johnson has been accused of “peddling inaccurate information” after he said in an article for the Evening Standard that organisations within the Greater London Authority Group, including City Hall, the Met Police and and Transport for London “all now paying our contractors within 10 days.”
London Assembly Member Dee Doocey said Johnson “really needs to check his facts” and suggested the Mayor was “confusing a target with the real record on the ground.”
“As recently as in February the Met was barely paying a third of its invoices within 10 working days. Transport for London and the GLA also fell short of this target.”
According to figures published in the Mayor’s own update on his previously Economic Recovery Action Plan the level of invoices from SMEs paid in 10 working days or less in February 2009 was:
TfL: 89.9%
LFB: 72.5%
GLA: 63.8% (adjusted to exclude the effect of a 1-day IT network failure in Feb)
LDA: 55.3%
MPS: 35.8%
Source: Economic Recovery Action Plan Update April 2009 (download link)
Doocey commented: “Instead of peddling inaccurate information the Mayor should turn his attention to the long delays that small and medium sized businesses face in being paid by organisations that he is running.”
According to the Economic Recovery Action Plan Update “a letter has been sent to GLA Group Chief Executives reminding them of the Mayor’s request they seek to ensure good performance on this matter”.
