COMPANIES which owe Swindon Council money will not be charged interest on their debts.
Under new regulations, the council, like businesses, is allowed to charge interest and compensation when debtors are late paying up.
Annually, Swindon Council issues 32,000 invoices with a total value of £25 million.
The cabinet agreed not to introduce the new rules until the council is consistently paying 90 per cent of its own invoices within a month of receiving them. This is not currently the case.
The changes would have enabled the council to levy compensation charges of between £40 and £100 as well as charging interest of 12 per cent on invoices not paid within 30 days.
Council leader Kevin Small (Labour, Western) said the council could be exposed to ridicule if it was imposing late payment charges without sticking to the same standard itself.
His motion was backed by Conservative leader Mike Bawden (Old Town and Lawns) but Liberal Democrat leader Mike Evemy questioned whether it made sound business sense.
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