Government has announced new reporting requirements for payment practices and cash retentions, which is a win for NFRC Members and the wider construction sector.

In a statement on Monday, Jonathan Reynolds, Secretary of State for Business and Trade, confirmed that government will make changes requiring large companies to "include information about their payment performance in their Annual Reports".

Government also made amendments to require qualifying companies to publish information about their retention clauses in any qualifying construction contracts with suppliers, with immediate effect. This is a huge win after multiple roadblocks that saw reporting on retentions sidelined. Read the full statement here.

Time wasted chasing late payments and foregoing investment hurts productivity and can put businesses at risk.

As the new Policy Officer for NFRC, I am encouraged that government is addressing bad payment practices, but more work must be done.

The recent demise of ISG has again highlighted the impact of unpaid retentions, with one of our SME Members losing £100k in retentions alone.

Thankfully, the Department for Business and Trade is soon launching a public consultation on additional legislative measures to address late payments and long payment terms.

NFRC will be involved in this process, and we are always keen to hear from our Members.

These steps forward would not have happened without the hard campaigning work of Lord Aberdare, Andrew Lewer, and others who continue to champion an end to retentions and overall fair payment for the skilled trades.

Last year, NFRC Members and other industry representatives met at Parliament to talk to and improve MPs and Lords awareness of the problems caused for sub-contractors by cash retentions.

NFRC will continue to work on behalf of our Members to take the issue to government and ensure businesses are paid on time.

If you want to contribute to the public consultation on late payments and would like our assistance, please email policy@nfrc.co.uk.