During an investigation into council spending by Penrith.Town reporters we have uncovered details of thousands of late payments to suppliers by Westmorland and Furness Council who made more than 11,250 late payments to suppliers during the 2024/25 financial year, resulting in thousands of pounds being paid in late payment interest and penalty fees.
The delays breach both the council’s own constitution and national legislation, which requires public bodies to pay suppliers within 30 days of receiving an invoice.
Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, the council is legally obliged to pay a fixed penalty fee plus interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate on overdue payments — charges it has become liable for as a result of the delays.
Among the invoices paid late were:
£7,033,200.00 to Cumberland Council, paid 53 days late
£343,537.99 to a waste services provider, paid 203 days late
£27,500.00 to the Cumbria Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, paid 38 days late
Delays have also affected local small businesses, including decorators and taxi firms. In some cases, businesses waited more than 100 days to be paid for services already delivered, with individual invoice amounts ranging from a few pounds to thousands.
In response, a Westmorland and Furness Council spokesperson said:
“Following Local Government reorganisation in 2023, a period of transformation had to be undertaken as we split parts of the former County Council’s finance department in two, to support the two new unitary authorities.
Subsequently, we have been improving our financial processes in Westmorland and Furness and have seen significant improvement over the last 12 months.
In April 2024 for example, 25% of invoices were being paid after the 30 day limit, and we have now reduced this to just 8% in December 2024.
Furthermore, whilst we recognise there’s still more work to do, there are many reasons which may cause an invoice to not be paid within the 30 day limit, including supplier disputes.”
Despite the improvements, the number of delayed payments and the associated cost to the taxpayer through the penalty payments to suppliers have raised concerns over the impact on small businesses who provide services to the council dependent on timely payments.
The council has not disclosed the total amount paid out in late payment fees and interest. However, with over 11,000 invoices affected and some delays extending to over 200 days, the total cost is believed to be hundreds of thousands.
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