In the interview, conservative MPs Stephen McPartland and Adam Afriyie explain that, while Danish, Swedish and Finnish governments rolled out e-invoicing for the public sector in 2005, 2008 and 2010 respectively, the UK is still behind them in the race for the adoption of e-invoicing.
Furthermore, the two highlight the benefits of e-invoicing adoption including a streamlined government administration, savings for taxpayers as well as a stimulation of online services for e-invoicing and the adoption of electronic open standards. Its full adoption by the government could result in economic benefits of GBP 22 billion-GBP 28 billion a year, the two conservative MPs explain.
However, Stephen McPartland and Adam Afriyie argue that the adoption of e-invoicing in the UK faces the civil service bureaucracy that is reticent to change as an obstacle, as well as the political-bureaucratic obsession that focuses on process over outcome. Therefore, in order to introduce e-invoicing as the default for public bodies, strong political will is necessary and the process must begin with the government itself.
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