A full review of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s accounts payable department will be carried out following a report which questioned if Councils are paying their suppliers on time.

According to one local Councillor, the report “reflects poorly” on Fermanagh and Omagh District Council (FODC), which was ranked fourth and fifth highest performing of the 11 councils for paying their suppliers within 10 and 30 days respectively.

The Federation of Small Business (FSB) released its report in June and concluded that there is “significant room for improvement in the performance of Councils.”   

Reacting to the report at July’s FODC meeting, SDLP Councillor Rosemary Shields commented: “I was reading about the prompt payment policy and how poorly our Council has performed. I was wondering if there is anything we can do to speed up the cash flow to our suppliers?
“We seem to be spending a relatively small amount of money but our suppliers are having to wait more than the 30 days recommended. It reflects poorly on us.”

In 2015-2016, FODC paid 84 per cent of 16,579 invoices within 30 days and was ranked fifth in Northern Ireland. It paid 53 per cent of 16,579 invoices within 10 days and was ranked fourth in Northern Ireland.
Better preforming Councils included Belfast, Lisburn and Castlereagh, Mid and East Antrim and Mid Ulster.

According to the FSB, there needs to be a greater focus on speeding up cash flow from the public sector to its suppliers, particularly small businesses.
A paper presented to Councillors at the July Policy and Resources Committee said: “Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s Payment Policy [states]: ‘The Council will pay suppliers as promptly as possible and endeavour to meet the 10 working day prompt payment commitment made by the NI Executive’.”
It continued: “The performance targets for 2016-2017 for FODC are 50 per cent of all invoices paid within 10 days and 85 per cent within 30 days. 
“It should be noted the key priority for accounts payable is to ensure that proper bone fide invoices are paid; that invoices are only processed for valid orders; that prices quoted are in line with quotations/tenders and that accuracy is maintained throughout the process. There should be no reduction in the standard of financial control in attaining prompt payment of suppliers.
“It is intended that a full review is undertaken of the workflow and processes for accounts payable in 2016-20117 in order to further streamline the process and ensure that accurate statistics for valid invoices are extracted from our systems.”