Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what performance indicators his Department uses to measure the extent to which the British Business Bank has reduced the scale-up financing gap of R&D intensive companies.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The indicator used to assess the financing gap is venture capital (VC) investment as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the UK as compared to the US, measured over 3 years. This gap (across all sectors) has narrowed from 30% greater investment in the US in 2019-2021 to 10% for 2022-2024.
The British Business Bank’s Small Business Equity Tracker report 2025 notes that the gap for R&D intensive sectors is wider. VC investment in these industries represented 0.25% of GDP in the UK during 2022-2024 against 0.31% in the US, equivalent to a gap of 30%.
Between 2022 and 2024, 49% of Bank-supported deals were in the tech sector, compared to 42% of deals across the overall market.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential for the recently announced funding for rural village pubs to support broader community-services provision in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Government recognises the important role rural pubs and those in deprived areas can play in supporting their communities and the work of Pub Is The Hub in helping them improve their resilience by providing additional community services.
That is why the Government has provided £440,000 to help Pub Is The Hub continue this important work. In its 2025 report: PiTH-Social-Value-of-Pubsfinal.pdf, Pub Is The Hub highlighted over 40 diversification projects that could not be delivered due to a lack of funding. Pub Is The Hub operates across the UK and applications for funding are assessed using its criteria.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what criteria his Department is applying to select rural pub diversification projects for the funding scheme.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Government recognises the important role rural pubs and those in deprived areas can play in supporting their communities and the work of Pub Is The Hub in helping them improve their resilience by providing additional community services.
That is why the Government has provided £440,000 to help Pub Is The Hub continue this important work. In its 2025 report: PiTH-Social-Value-of-Pubsfinal.pdf, Pub Is The Hub highlighted over 40 diversification projects that could not be delivered due to a lack of funding. Pub Is The Hub operates across the UK and applications for funding are assessed using its criteria.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what proportion of the British Business Bank’s annual investment capacity has been earmarked for deployment in under-served (a) regions and (b) nations of the UK.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The British Business Bank invests flexibly, allowing it to react to changing market conditions. Most investment decisions are taken by the managers of funds in which the Bank has invested. For these reasons, investment is not generally earmarked in advance for specific nations and regions of the United Kingdom.
The £1.6 billion Nations and Regions Investment Funds are the exception. They currently provide debt and equity finance to businesses in three regions of England and in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Two new funds, covering South and East England, will launch in April 2026.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has set a quantitative target for annual increases in private capital crowd-in by the British Business Bank over the next five years.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
No. Setting a quantitative target for annual increases in private capital crowd-in by the British Business Bank could incentivise a shift towards less risky investments, which are more likely to attract private capital. This would be contrary to the Bank’s purpose of addressing market gaps and under-served regions and entrepreneurs.
The amount of private capital crowded-in is reported in the Bank’s Impact Report, published annually. The most recent report shows that in the year to 3 March 2025 the Bank deployed £1.2 billion of public finance and crowded-in a further £3.0 billion, a ratio of 2.5 to one.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the UK’s investment screening regime supports responsible sovereign wealth fund investment.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has close investment relationships with many of the world’s sovereign wealth funds, supporting mutually beneficial, strategic investment into the UK.
The National Security and Investment Act (NSIA) 2021 gives the UK Government the power to scrutinise and, where necessary, intervene in a transaction that is captured by the act regardless of the acquirer. Every NSIA transaction is taken on its own merit, on a case-by-case basis.
The legislation enables investment into sensitive sectors of our economy while providing robust protections to ensure the UK’s national security is not compromised.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has undertaken analysis of barriers to inward investment from sovereign wealth funds into UK (a) infrastructure and (b) growth sectors.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This government maintains strong relationships with leading sovereign wealth funds, engaging in regular dialogue to understand barriers they face when investing in UK infrastructure and growth sectors. The UK's 10 Year Strategy Infrastructure aims to restore confidence and drive growth with £725 billion for infrastructure, transforming project delivery. The Industrial Strategy White Paper identified key investment barriers including planning delays, infrastructure gaps, regulatory burdens, and skills shortages. Government reforms to address these barriers include the Strategic Sites Accelerator, regulatory innovation, planning improvements, and targeted support for industrial clusters and skills development.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of foreign sovereign wealth funds to the Government’s strategy for attracting long-term investment into the UK economy.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government recognises the important role that foreign sovereign wealth funds play in supporting long-term investment in the UK. The UK continues to attract significant investment from sovereign wealth funds, including through strategic partnerships with funds from the Gulf region. This includes a recent £2 billion investment partnership with Bahrain to support sectors such as clean energy, technology, and manufacturing. This investment contributes to economic growth, job creation, and the development of key infrastructure across the country.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that inward investment from India contributes to the UK’s net zero targets.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
DBT’s recently published Industrial Strategy sets out the Government’s ambition to be a global leader in clean energy by 2035, doubling investment levels across our frontier clean energy industries to over £30billion per year and creating good jobs across the country. To support this, the Office for Investment acts as a dedicated unit and proactive sales force for the UK, working internationally to secure transformational investment in line with HMGs strategic priorities. It has the commercial knowledge and expertise to originate and land deals, including working to land investment from India.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen the UK’s institutional relationships with major global sovereign wealth funds.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This government expanded the Office for Investment (OfI) including pursuing deeper investment collaboration with global sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in support of our first Modern Industrial Strategy.
The OfI manages multi-billion-pound Sovereign and Strategic Investment Partnerships with SWFs and provides a channel for collaboration. The OfI has already facilitated multi-billion-pounds in commitments and multi-billion-pounds in capital deployed from these partners, contributing to growth and prosperity across the country.
This effort continues; The Government is sending a senior delegation to the Future Investment Initiative in Saudi Arabia later this month to strengthen ties further with Saudi and global SWFs.