How we pay our suppliers

Oxford City Council has clear payment terms for suppliers. We include these terms in our contract documents and with any orders.

We aim to pay all suppliers within 30 days of getting a correct invoice. For small and medium enterprises, it's within 14 days.

We regularly check our payment times to make sure we stick to these standards.

If you're a business or organisation with a payment question, call us at 01865 252851.

Help us pay on time

To make sure we pay your invoice on time, please:

• send the invoice in the agreed format
• mention the purchase order number and contract title
• address it to the right officer and location
• check that the totals are correct
• include detailed information about the payment
• only bill for goods or services already supplied, as we can’t pay in advance

We only use BACS for payments. This makes sure the payment goes straight into your bank account.

You can email invoices to invoice@oxford.gov.uk. We check this email daily and quickly send invoices for approval and payment.

We also use Visa cards for frequent, low-value purchases. If this applies, we’ll let you know.

If you have any payment questions, contact us.

Prompt Payment Code

We support our suppliers by paying them quickly. We've signed the Government Prompt Payment Code and encourage our suppliers to do the same.

Payment statistics

We follow the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 by showing how often we pay within 30 days.

Dataset guide

• proportion of invoices paid within 30 days
• percentage paid within contract terms
• interest paid for late payments

Additional information

• Guidance on EU Procurement Directives and UK Regulations
• Public Contracts Regulations 2015 on the government's Legislation website