Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of negotiating improved business travel mobility arrangements with the EU.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1st December to question 93634 (Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament).
Improved business travel mobility arrangements with the EU would benefit individuals and businesses in both the UK and EU, likely increasing trade between us and the EU and increasing our GDP over time. The UK government is committed to supporting UK businesses to trade more easily with our biggest trading partner, the EU.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of negotiating improved business travel mobility arrangements with the European Union.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Improved business travel mobility arrangements with the EU would benefit individuals and businesses in both the UK and EU, likely increasing trade between us and the EU and increasing our GDP over time. The UK government is committed to supporting UK businesses to trade more easily with our biggest trading partner, the EU.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of UK and EU conformity assessment alignment on the economy.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We are aware that UK and EU stakeholders have highlighted that conformity assessment barriers negatively impact their ability to trade since the UK left the EU. Ahead of the UK-EU summit in May 2025 we explored a number of proposals with our EU partners on manufactured goods. To inform these discussions the government assessed the potential economic impact of a range of measures, including a mutual recognition agreement on conformity assessment, which indicated that such an agreement would be mutually beneficial for both the UK and EU. What was announced at the UK-EU summit reflects the outcome of the discussions.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many complaints the British Business Bank received about a) the cost of loans to SMEs, b) debt recovery behaviour by people offering to lend to SMEs and c) fees charged by lenders when lending to SMEs in each of the last three years for which data is available.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Where the British Business Bank receives complaints about lenders' actions on debt recovery, cost of lending and fees charged by lenders, these are referred to the relevant lender. While all complaints are logged, the current system does not include a specific category for debt-recovery-related issues. No fees were charged under the COVID-19 loan schemes, and there are no fees for Start Up Loans other than interest payments.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he will make an assessment of the potential benefits of the mutual recognition of professional qualifications by the UK and European Union.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
DBT is continually assessing benefits of opportunities to improve recognition of professional qualifications with the EU. Improvements would reduce market access barriers, address skills gaps, and promote growth.
The UK Government is committed to improving recognition of professional qualifications with the EU. At the 2025 UK-EU Summit we agreed to establish dedicated dialogues with the Commission on the relevant provisions in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. HMG is encouraging and supporting UK regulators to work with their EU counterparts, including through guidance and targeted funding.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has commissioned research from National Institute of Economic and Social Research in the last three years on (a) international lending rates and (b) levels international lending to SMEs.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade has commissioned research on the alternatives to commercial lending in the SME Business Market. The research, undertaken by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, intends to study the characteristics of debt finance and lending markets within and outside the UK to identify market failures in the UK system and potential changes that could support businesses, especially SMEs.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
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 impact of (a) pubs and (b) other hospitality businesses extending their Bounce Back Loans for (i) an additional five years beyond the current maximum limits and (ii) at the same rate of interest.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Pay As You Grow (PAYG) was introduced to give businesses that borrowed under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) greater flexibility, including extended repayment terms and short-term interest only payments. The Department’s multi-year published evaluation of the Covid-19 Loan Guarantee Schemes indicated that closure rates among BBLS borrowers using PAYG were relatively low compared to others, suggesting PAYG may have had an important role in ensuring the survival of some businesses. The department has not conducted a sector specific assessment in relation to PAYG impact.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will ask the British Business Bank to support credit unions to offer loans to small businesses.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The British Business Bank is backing Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) with £150 million of capital through the Community ENABLE Funding programme, to support small businesses that are under-served by commercial lenders.
Credit unions play a valuable role in providing both loans and savings, with 2.2 million members across the UK. Unlike CDFIs, which are not authorised to offer bank accounts, credit unions are able to attract customer deposits and are not reliant on wholesale finance. For this reason, the British Business Bank has no current plans to support credit unions to offer loans to small businesses.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) pubs and (b) other hospitality businesses with outstanding covid-19 loans.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This information is not held centrally by the Department for Business and Trade.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much funding her Department and its predecessor Department allocated to the (a) Turkish-British Chamber of Commerce, (b) British-Swiss Chamber of Commerce, (c) British Chamber of Commerce in Brazil, (d) UK-India Business Council, (e) Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce and (f) British Chamber of Business in Southern Africa in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Department for Business and Trade and the former Department for International Trade have not provided any funding to the Chambers of Commerce requested except for the UK-India Business Council. The funding provided to it is as follows:
Year | Spend |
2013 (October-March inclusive) | £441,344.54 |
2014 | £3,428,243.20 |
2015 | £2,269,682.03 |
2016 | £1,955,098.94 |
2017 | £1,499,191.33 |
2018 | £1,311,455.20 |
2019 | £1,059,669.00 |
2020 | £828,695.00 |
2021 | £1,115,025.00 |
2022 | £270,835.00 |