Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrea Leadsom and Simon Kirby

Tuesday 2nd September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

No. The hon. Gentleman is completely wrong. The funding for lending scheme has undoubtedly made more credit available than would otherwise have been the case. As I have said, gross lending to businesses has improved and the Federation of Small Businesses has said that the outlook for small and medium-sized enterprises is now better than it has been before. I remind the hon. Gentleman that the peak-to-trough drop in GDP between 2008 and 2009 was 7.2%. That is the cause of the disastrous drop in the availability of bank funding to businesses in this country.

[Simon Kirby (Brighton, Kemptown) (Con)]

Bank lending is particularly important for new businesses. Will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating the record number of business start-ups—a staggering 1,965—in Brighton and Hove last year?

[Andrea Leadsom]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his announcement of what is going on in his constituency. It is fantastic news that so many new businesses are starting up. As we know, that is creating millions of new private sector jobs, and that, of course, is the way for our economy to recover.