The latest move to end the culture of large companies taking for ever to pay smaller companies is to create the position of a government Small Business Commissioner. There is a consultation period about the idea that runs until 21 August. You can find out about the proposals and how to comment on them by downloading the PDF here.

The aim is for this new government czar to help small companies get the £26billion they are estimated to be owed at any one time.

Specialist sub-contractors tend to factor retentions and the late payment of the final settlement into their pricing policies. If they don't do it well enough, they go bust (which is not unusual). When they go bust, they often do not pay their own suppliers or sub-contractors, sometimes resulting in a cascade of failures.

Business minister Anna Soubry says the new Commissioner role will help small businesses grow and create more jobs.

She believes the mere existence of a Commissioner would act as a strong disincentive to poor practices. Which it might do if it were backed by the full force of the law and able to enforce payment, but what are the chances of that happening? Any teeth proposed for the job are likely to be extracted one by one by the large companies long before the first Commissioner is actually appointed. 

Getting rid of the whole culture of beating up the supply chain should result in considerable efficiencies. But it can only happen if the culture of the whole industry changes overnight – otherwise who is going to be first to jump off the bandwagon? Whether a government czar (or anyone else) is capable of achieving such a change remains to be seen. The fact the culture persists is the harshest criticism of the many previous attempts by governments to change it.

According to Anna Soubry's plan, businesses who do not pay on time will be named and shamed. Big deal! If that is anything like the naming and shaming of bankers who cheat and swindle it will go largely unnoticed and ignored.

The plan also says small firms will be offered mediation services to avoid having to spend high sums on going to court to recoup money they are owed, which sounds rather like the existing arbitration system.

But who knows? Maybe if enough people get fed up losing money on the rip-off society there might be a commercial advantage in being honest. And maybe a Small Business Commissioner is the way to start the change… maybe.