Prompt payment of suppliers
Natural England aims to reduce invoice payment times to 10 working days.
We apply this approach to all suppliers of goods and services but will not be changing our existing contractual terms and conditions.
Guidance for Suppliers
Suppliers who have provided goods or services to Natural England must follow the guidance below when submitting their invoice for payment.
Invoice content
Suppliers’ invoices should include the following information:
Date of invoice;
Supplier name and contact details;
A valid purchase order number provided by Natural England (if a valid purchase order is not provided the invoice may be returned unpaid);
The agreed charge (and where not complete a breakdown of the relevant work or services as they relate to this charge or an explanation of a difference in expected charge);
It will also be helpful if the invoice contains:
Confirmation that the services detailed have been fully performed;
Supplier bank details.
Billing address
All invoices should be sent to the following address:
Natural England
Defra Shared Services Directorate
Lion House
Willowburn Trading Estate
Alnwick
Northumberland
NE66 2PF
If the above guidance is followed Natural England will regard the invoice as being correctly rendered.
Natural England will aim to pay a correctly rendered, valid invoice as soon as possible with a target of 10 days from date of receipt and within 30 days at the latest in line with our standard terms and conditions.
Suppliers should note that the date of invoice receipt is defined as the date of receipt at the above address.
If an invoice is disputed you will be informed and given the relevant contact details for further enquiries. In such cases the payment target will be frozen whilst the dispute is resolved.
If your invoice was legitimate and correctly submitted and we took over 30 days to pay it you may have recourse through the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998
.
Payment Method
All supplier invoices will be paid by BACS. Suppliers must provide their bank details prior to the issue of an order.
Prompt payment guidance
Prompt payment guidance for public sector organisations is another critical step in a series of structured initiatives devised by the government with The Institute of Credit Management (ICM) to tackle the crucial issue of late payment and help small businesses especially.
