I beg to move amendment No. 95, in clause 31, page 13, line 14, leave out from ‘within’ to ‘after’ in line 15 and insert ‘three months’.

Again, this is a probing amendment, along the lines of the previous discussion. In clause 31 no period is specified in which payment should be made. We have suggested three months and I am interested in what the Minister thinks might be a reasonable timeframe. In the consultation we had, the lack of a time period for contributions to be paid was seen as an issue that perhaps should be looked at. I am easy about whether the Minister thinks it should be three months, six months or within a financial year.

Following on from the previous discussion, if nothing else, the principle that there should be a payment period within which or after which interest will be charged needs to be set down. If the Minister introduces the exception on interest it is important that we agree that payment is made within a certain period, after which the employer is liability for interest.