Originally from: mona parr
                        
http://www.nfucountryside.org.uk/news-1412.htm

Contractors still owed for FMD work

21 February 2005

A business pressure group says on the fourth anniversary of the Foot and Mouth outbreak (20 February 2005) \x{2013} a crisis which paralysed the political world and delayed a General Election \x{2013} the Government still owes £40m in unpaid invoices to contractors who worked on the clean up.
The Forum of Private Business (FPB) which is fighting on behalf of contractors says the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), has put immense financial pressure on firms who helped the Government at a time of national crisis.

FPB\x{2019}s Chief Executive Nick Goulding said: \x{201C}We have heard of businesses going into liquidation because of the huge amount of money owed to them for so long by Defra. The Department has refused to acknowledge the plight of businesses which have submitted invoices for money rightfully owed to them and it is failing to fulfill its obligations under the Better Payment Practice Code.

\x{201C}Defra has also sought to prevent proper debate by imposing confidentiality agreements on settlements. Contractors still owed cash are understandably reluctant to speak publicly given this background as they fear a backlash from Defra.\x{201D}

According to figures contained in a report on the FMD outbreak, more than 1,200 contractors were involved in the crisis and less than one per cent of those contractors\x{2019} claims have, or are currently being, investigated as fraudulent. The FPB claims that 18 allegations of fraud have been made against contractors: of these six claims have been dismissed and 12 are still under investigation.

Foot and Mouth contractor Cumbria Waste Management says it is still owed more than £5m in unpaid invoices. Its Managing Director Mike Bareham said his firm, which is owned by Cumbria Country Council, had wasted hundreds of hours in management time trying to get the Government to pay up. \x{201C}We have spent several hundred thousand pounds on making the Government pay what is owed to us,\x{201D} he said. \x{201C}It has been deeply tedious and a massive distraction from real challenges within the waste industry, such as reducing our reliance on landfill.\x{201D}