Debate on bill and Committee of the Whole House (HL) on Tuesday, 21 July 2026, in the House of Lords, led by Lord Leong. The answering members were Lord Hunt of Wirral and Lord Sharpe of Epsom.

Commercial Payments Bill [HL]

Lords committee stage. Clauses 1 and 2, as amended, agreed to. Clauses 3 and 4 agreed to. Clause 5, as amended, agreed to. Clauses 6 and 7 agreed to. Clauses 8 and 9, as amended, agreed to. Schedule 1, as amended, agreed to. Clauses 10 to 17 agreed to. Schedule 2, as amended, agreed to. Clauses 18 and 19, as amended, agreed to. Schedule 3, as amended, agreed to. Clauses 20 to 25 agreed to. Schedule 4 agreed to. Clauses 26 and 27 agreed to. Clause 28, as amended, agreed to. Clauses 29 to 32 agreed to. Bill reported with amendments (HL Bill 45).

Secondary information

Type: Parliamentary proceeding
Reference: 858 cc1057-1132
Session: 2026-27
Department: Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade
Legislative stage: Committee stage
Procedure: New clauses
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Related items: Commercial Payments Bill (HL) 2026-27
Tuesday, 19 May 2026
Bills
House of Lords; Financial Services and Markets Bill (HL); Commercial Payments Bill (HL); Lobbying Transparency (In-house Lobbyists) Bill (HL); Sentencing Bill: Government Response (session 2024–26). Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee second report
Wednesday, 17 June 2026
Parliamentary committees
House of Lords; Commercial Payments Bill (HL) 2026-27. As amended in Committee
Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Bills
House of Lords
Proceeding contributions: Lord Holmes of Richmond | 858 cc1057-8 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Holmes of Richmond
1: Clause 1, page 2, line 5, at end insert—
“(...; Lord Holmes of Richmond | 858 cc1058-9 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, it is a pleasure to start this Committee on the Commercial Payments Bill. In doing so, ...; Lord Fox | 858 c1059 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 10 in my name. Before that, I commend the noble Lord, Lord Ho...; Lord Sharpe of Epsom | 858 cc1059-1060 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Holmes of Richmond for introducing this debate. I welcome ...; Lord Leong | 858 cc1060-2 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, first, I thank all noble Lords for their contributions to this short debate; I thank in...; Lord Holmes of Richmond | 858 c1062 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have taken part in this debate and the Minister for his res...; Lord Holmes of Richmond | 858 c1062 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Holmes of Richmond
2: Clause 1, page 2, leave out lines 8 and 9 and ins...; Lord Holmes of Richmond | 858 cc1062-3 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, there is a wonderful structure to the groupings so far. Group 1 started with Amendment ...; Lord Faulkner of Worcester | 858 c1063 (Link to this contribution)
I advise the Committee that if this amendment is agreed to I will be unable to call Amendments 3 ...; Lord Leigh of Hurley | 858 cc1063-4 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I rise to follow my indefatigable noble friend Lord Holmes and congratulate him on his ...; Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted | 858 cc1064-5 (Link to this contribution)
That was a hint to rise. I will speak to my Amendment 52, but I must first apologise to the Commi...; Lord Sharpe of Epsom | 858 cc1065-7 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I will begin by picking up where I left off in group 1, by briefly touching upon Amendm...; Lord Fox | 858 cc1067-8 (Link to this contribution)
Your Lordships have shown a degree of creativity on this group. We have talked about end-of-month...; Lord Leong | 858 c1068 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords for their contributions and amendments in this group. The Gover...; Lord Holmes of Richmond | 858 c1068 (Link to this contribution)
Does the Minister have an analysis of the various levels and sizes of the entities that responded...; Lord Leong | 858 cc1068-1070 (Link to this contribution)
I am sure we do; I will speak to officials and make sure I share that information with all noble ...; Lord Leigh of Hurley | 858 c1069 (Link to this contribution)
Before the Minister sits down, may I push him a bit on a point he made? He said that Amendment 43...; Lord Leong | 858 c1069 (Link to this contribution)
I am grateful to the noble Lord for bringing that specific example. I need to be very specific ab...; Lord Holmes of Richmond | 858 cc1069-1071 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who participated in this debate and tabled amendments, and I th...; Lord Leong | 858 c1071 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Leong
6: Clause 1, page 3, line 2, leave out “(implied payment terms in...; Lord Leong | 858 cc1071-2 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I will now introduce government amendments in my name. Turning first to the amendments ...; Lord Fox | 858 c1072 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Leong, for his clear exposition of his collection of amend...; Lord Sharpe of Epsom | 858 cc1072-3 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I am also grateful to the Minister for his comprehensive explanation. I am pleased that...; Lord Leong | 858 c1073 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank the noble Lords, Lord Fox and Lord Sharpe, for their contribution on these amen...; Lord Lansley | 858 c1073 (Link to this contribution)
The Minister is changing the Procurement Act with this Bill. The power to reduce the payment term...; Lord Leong | 858 c1073 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, that would be inconsistent with the Bill, because the Bill sticks at 30 days for public...; Lord Fox | 858 c1074 (Link to this contribution)
I ask the Minister to go back and have another look at the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Lan...; Lord Leong | 858 c1074 (Link to this contribution)
I will do that.; Lord Leong | 858 c1074 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Leong
12: Clause 2, page 5, line 12, leave out “68 or 88” and insert “6...; Lord Sharpe of Epsom | 858 c1074 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Sharpe of Epsom
18: Clause 3, page 7, leave out lines 3 to 16
Mem...; Lord Sharpe of Epsom | 858 cc1074-7 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, it is a pleasure to introduce group 4, which primarily covers the important issue of th...; Lord Holmes of Richmond | 858 c1077 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I support my noble friend Lord Sharpe, having signed all the amendments in his name. Th...; Lord Fox | 858 c1077 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Sharpe, brought up a number of important issues, but I do not thin...; Lord Leong | 858 cc1078-9 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords, and thank the noble Lords, Lord Sharpe and Lord Hunt, for tabl...; Lord Sharpe of Epsom | 858 cc1079-1080 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for his explanation and for the context around some of th...; Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd | 858 c1080 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd
19: Clause 3, page 7, line 23, at end insert “save t...; Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd | 858 cc1080-1 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I declare my interest as chairman of the board that advises the International Centre fo...; Lord Holmes of Richmond | 858 cc1081-2 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow my friend, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas, and the ...; Lord Fox | 858 c1082 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, very briefly, this would seem to be the perfect amendment for the Minister to accept. A...; Lord Sharpe of Epsom | 858 c1082 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I am very grateful to the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, for introduc...; Lord Leong | 858 cc1082-3 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas, for tabling Amendment 19, and acknowle...; Lord Lansley | 858 c1083 (Link to this contribution)
Before the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, responds, can I just ask the Minister...; Lord Leong | 858 c1084 (Link to this contribution)
I appreciate what the noble Lord has just said, but it is important that the scope of the Bill is...; Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd | 858 c1084 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank everyone who has spoken in this short, slightly esoteric argument and on these ...; Lord Holmes of Richmond | 858 cc1084-5 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Holmes of Richmond
24: Clause 4, page 9, line 2, at end insert—
“...; Lord Holmes of Richmond | 858 c1085 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I look forward to the debate on this group. Amendment 24 is incredibly straightforward....; Lord Sharpe of Epsom | 858 cc1085-6 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Holmes of Richmond for this amendment. I am sorry that nob...; Lord Leong | 858 c1086 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, for this amendment. I understand the concern that ...; Lord Holmes of Richmond | 858 c1086 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Sharpe and the Minister for their comments in this short d...; Lord Leong | 858 c1087 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Leong
26: Clause 5, page 9, line 37, leave out from second “to” to end ...; Lord Leong | 858 c1088 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Leong
35: Clause 8, page 14, line 19, leave out “110(3)” and insert “11...; Viscount Colville of Culross | 858 c1088 (Link to this contribution)
After Clause 8, I call the noble Lord, Lord Fox, to move Amendment 37.; Lord Fox | 858 c1088 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, Amendment 37 is in my name. This amendment would confirm on the face of the Bill that t...; Viscount Colville of Culross | 858 c1088 (Link to this contribution)
With apologies to the Committee and the noble Lord, Lord Fox, I omitted to have Clause 8 agreed. ...; Lord Fox | 858 cc1088-9 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Fox
37: After Clause 8, insert the following new Clause—
“Agreeme...; Lord Fox | 858 c1089 (Link to this contribution)
Fortunately, this is a short speech so I can lengthen it by repeating that.
This amendment ...; Lord Hunt of Wirral | 858 cc1089-1090 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, we are all very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Fox, for tabling Amendment 37, which s...; Lord Leong | 858 c1090 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Fox, for his Amendment 37, and I thank the Publishers Asso...; Lord Hunt of Wirral | 858 c1090 (Link to this contribution)
Before the Minister sits down, can he address the two questions I raised? Are there other industr...; Lord Leong | 858 c1090 (Link to this contribution)
As far as the Bill is concerned, we are not providing any particular exemption to any particular ...; Lord Fox | 858 c1091 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I should have said that my wife is a published author, so I have some family interest i...; Lord Leong | 858 c1091 (Link to this contribution)
I will quickly answer that. If the contract is for a book, and, as part of the contract, the crea...; Lord Fox | 858 c1091 (Link to this contribution)
That is clearer. I will climb through the words we have exchanged as a result of this debate and ...; Lord Leong | 858 c1091 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Leong
38: Clause 9, page 14, line 35, leave out “in connection with pro...; Lord Leong | 858 cc1091-7 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Leong
40: Schedule 1, page 46, leave out lines 25 to 36 and insert—
...; Lord Lansley | 858 cc1097-8 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Lansley
44: Clause 11, page 15, line 19, at end insert—
“(1A) Sec...; Lord Lansley | 858 cc1098-1100 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, with Clause 11 and this group we move to the question of retention payments. We should ...; Lord Sharpe of Epsom | 858 cc1100-1 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Lansley for speaking in this debate and introducing his am...; Lord Fox | 858 c1101 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, the Minister has said in the past that there may be other means to ensure the necessary...; Lord Leong | 858 cc1101-3 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank the three noble Lords for their amendments in this group and for their contribu...; Lord Sharpe of Epsom | 858 c1103 (Link to this contribution)
I totally understand where the noble Lord is coming from, of course, and I think we have indicate...; Lord Leong | 858 c1104 (Link to this contribution)
I think the mere incentive of getting the money earlier will ensure that the service and the qual...; Lord Lansley | 858 c1104 (Link to this contribution)
I am most grateful to noble Lords for this short but really rather—forgive the pun—constructive d...; Lord Leong | 858 c1105 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Leong
53: Schedule 2, page 48, line 6, at end insert—
“1A In sect...; Lord Hunt of Wirral | 858 c1105 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Hunt of Wirral
55: Clause 18, page 21, line 23, leave out “(but no othe...; Lord Hunt of Wirral | 858 cc1105-7 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, we now move to a very important part of the Bill, namely Part 2, on the Small Business ...; Lord Fox | 858 cc1107-9 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, it is a real pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, given his continued involvem...; Lord Holmes of Richmond | 858 c1109 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow my friend, the noble Lord, Lord Fox, and to start with his A...; Lord Leigh of Hurley | 858 cc1109-1110 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, we now come, as my noble friend Lord Hunt of Wirral said, to the heart of the Bill, as ...; Lord Leong | 858 cc1110-3 (Link to this contribution)
First, I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to the group of amendments, and I acknowledge...; Lord Fox | 858 c1112 (Link to this contribution)
Before the Minister sits down, I found his answer on Amendment 91 a bit disappointing, given that...; Lord Leong | 858 c1112 (Link to this contribution)
I would be happy to follow that up in a further conversation with the noble Lord. I take his poin...; Lord Fox | 858 c1112 (Link to this contribution)
I am sorry to labour the point, but that use of structures is exactly what my amendment seeks to ...; Lord Leong | 858 c1112 (Link to this contribution)
As I said earlier, we need to have further conversations on that, which I would welcome.; Lord Hunt of Wirral | 858 cc1112-4 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords for taking part in what has been a very important debate. I am ...; Lord Fox | 858 c1114 (Link to this contribution)
Simple—have a flat tax.; Lord Hunt of Wirral | 858 c1114 (Link to this contribution)
Anyway, that is a debate for another occasion.
The Committee has made it clear that we supp...; Lord Leigh of Hurley | 858 c1114 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Leigh of Hurley
58: Clause 18, page 22, line 26, at end insert—
“...; Lord Leigh of Hurley | 858 cc1114-5 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, my Amendment 58 comes out of discussions I have had with SMEs which are supplying much ...; Lord Holmes of Richmond | 858 cc1115-6 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow my noble friend Lord Leigh of Hurley. My amendments in this ...; Baroness Kramer | 858 cc1116-8 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, my Amendment 81 in this group addresses a single issue. There is no possible way that t...; Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd | 858 c1118 (Link to this contribution)
I make one brief observation on Amendment 83. When one looks back at the last group of amendments...; Lord Fox | 858 c1118 (Link to this contribution)
A lawyer steps up.; Lord Leong | 858 c1118 (Link to this contribution)
Declare yourself.; Lord Hunt of Wirral | 858 cc1118-1120 (Link to this contribution)
As the Minister has just suggested, I should declare my interest as a practising solicitor in the...; Lord Leong | 858 cc1120-1 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have contributed on this group of amendments. Let me turn t...; Lord Leigh of Hurley | 858 c1122 (Link to this contribution)
I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.; Lord Leong | 858 c1122 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Leong
60: Clause 18, page 23, line 6, leave out from “Wales,” to end of...; Lord Holmes of Richmond | 858 cc1122-3 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Holmes of Richmond
73: After Clause 18, insert the following new Clause...; Lord Holmes of Richmond | 858 cc1123-4 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, it is a pleasure to open this group of amendments. It is time to talk technology. Befor...; Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd | 858 cc1124-5 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I have one or two brief observations in support of the amendments, particularly Amendme...; Lord Fox | 858 c1125 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, these amendments are very much of the style that I had expected, knowing that the noble...; Lord Hunt of Wirral | 858 cc1125-6 (Link to this contribution)
We are all very grateful to my noble friend Lord Holmes of Richmond, not only for his amendments ...; Lord Leong | 858 cc1127-8 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords for their contributions on this group of amendments. I thank in...; Lord Holmes of Richmond | 858 c1128 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who took part in this debate. In answer to the noble Lord, Lord...; Lord Leong | 858 cc1128-9 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Leong
76: Clause 19, page 32, line 20, leave out from “business” to “wh...; Lord Leong | 858 c1129 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Leong
82: Schedule 3, page 52, line 12, at end insert—
“(3) Befor...; Lord Leong | 858 c1130 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Leong
102: Clause 28, page 40, line 11, after “State” insert “or the Ch...; Lord Hunt of Wirral | 858 c1130 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Hunt of Wirral
103: Clause 31, page 41, line 34, at end insert—
“...; Lord Hunt of Wirral | 858 cc1130-1 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, Amendment 103 would delay commencement of the statutory interest provisions by one year...; Lord Leong | 858 c1131 (Link to this contribution)
First, I thank the noble Lords, Lord Hunt and Lord Sharpe, for this amendment and the noble Lord,...; Lord Hunt of Wirral | 858 c1132 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, perhaps I may take this opportunity of thanking the Minister for the way he has approac...
Notes: Northern Ireland, Scottish and Welsh legislative consent sought.
Subjects: Disclosure of information Contracts Business Construction Billing Copyright Digital technology Equality Housing Exemptions Insolvency Interest charges Electronic commerce Payments Public sector Procurement Standards Royalties Small businesses Supply chains Overseas trade Artificial intelligence Small Business Commissioner Dispute resolution
Legislation: Commercial Payments Bill (HL) 2026-27
Link: View this Parliamentary proceeding on hansard.parliament.uk

Commercial Payments Bill [HL]

Secondary information

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