Oral Answers to Questions

Alice Macdonald Excerpts

Thursday 12th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Alexander]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for bringing his considerable expertise in veterinary science to the Chamber today. We will not compromise on animal welfare standards as we take forward our programme of free trade agreements. Although we might well have approached the negotiations that the previous Government undertook in a different manner, reopening them would certainly create uncertainty, which we genuinely believe would hurt UK business. We are not seeing Australian or New Zealand beef and lamb flood the UK market, and we will continue to monitor trade flows under both those free trade agreements. He makes a very fair and important point about the need to maintain welfare standards.

[Alice Macdonald (Norwich North) (Lab/Co-op)]

8. What steps his Department is taking to support small and medium-sized businesses.

[Darren Paffey (Southampton Itchen) (Lab)]

12. What steps his Department is taking to support small businesses.

[The Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Jonathan Reynolds)]

Small businesses are the beating heart of our high streets and communities, and are essential to our economic success. That is why, on Small Business Saturday, I announced the business growth service, which will ensure that businesses across the UK get quicker and easier support and advice from Government. Further announcements include the disability finance code for entrepreneurship to improve access to capital and tackle inequality for disabled entrepreneurs. A new fair payment code was launched by the Office of the Small Business Commissioner to help address late payments. Next year, as my hon. Friend has said, the small business strategy will be published to create thriving high streets, easier access to finance, open overseas and domestic markets and enhanced business capability.

[Alice Macdonald]

Small and medium-sized businesses come in many forms, from microbusinesses to community interest companies and co-operatives. Often, co-operative and mutual business models are overlooked. Norwich has a proud history of co-operatives. Will the Secretary of State reassure me that co-operative and mutual business models will be properly included in this Government’s much-needed push to support small and medium-sized businesses?

[Jonathan Reynolds]

I very much welcome my hon. Friend’s question. My area on the eastern side of Greater Manchester has, like hers, a huge history of co-operatives and mutuals. The diversity in business models that they bring is a huge strength; they bring different things to the market and different ways of doing business. The resilience in co-operative models is particularly attractive. I can assure her that they form part of the Government’s wider strategy. Our ambition is to double mutuals’ size in the economy. The Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade, my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow West (Gareth Thomas), the small business Minister, is leading on that work, and I would love my hon. Friend and businesses from her area to be involved in it.

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[The Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security (Mr Douglas Alexander)]

There is an established process in taking forward the Government’s discussions in relation to the mandate. On animal welfare standards, the Secretary of State has already alluded to how there was clearly considerable divergence during the previous attempts to conclude a free trade agreement with the United States. I assure the House that we as a new Government continue to take issues of animal welfare extremely seriously.

[Alice Macdonald (Norwich North) (Lab/Co-op)]

T6. In Norwich, we have many amazing businesses such as the Norwich Glass Company, Café 193 and Great Eastern Model Railways that I visited recently. One of the challenges that they, the Norfolk chamber of commerce and the Federation of Small Businesses have raised is attracting skilled staff. Will the Secretary of State set out how the Government’s skills plan will support such businesses to attract the staff they need?