Oral Answers to Questions

Carol Monaghan Excerpts

Tuesday 27th June 2017 Commons Chamber

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

10. What safeguards the Government plan to put in place to protect small businesses as part of negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Margot James)]

Ministers in the Department for Exiting the European Union and I are in regular discussions with small and medium-sized enterprises and their representatives, and we are arranging a joint ministerial roundtable with SMEs to ensure that their voices are heard throughout the Brexit negotiations. Only last week, the permanent secretary of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and I held a roundtable with small businesses on the negotiations.

[Carol Monaghan]

A survey by the Federation of Small Businesses found that 92% of exporting small businesses trade in the EU single market. How does the Minister predict those small businesses will be affected by the loss of our membership, and how will she ensure that the sector continues to be represented in any future negotiations?

[Margot James]

The Government are committed to negotiating a full and open trade agreement with the European Union on our departure. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said earlier, we are aiming for a situation in which no tariffs are applied to SMEs that export into the single market and there is no unnecessary bureaucracy.