Henry Smith
Main Page: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)Department Debates - View all Henry Smith's debates with the Department for Education
(12 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Speaker
I sometimes think that the Minister of State would like dedicated oral questions for himself alone, but I am not aware that the House has any plans to provide such, so I hope he can contain his disappointment at that news.
Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)
9. What support his Department is giving to small and medium-sized businesses to enable them to grow.
The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Greg Clark)
To drive growth, we are reducing the cost of lending to small businesses by keeping interest rates low and through specific measures such as the national loan guarantee scheme. We are also stripping away red tape, including a three-year moratorium on domestic regulation for micro-businesses.
Henry Smith
Will my right hon. Friend update the House on the progress the Government have made in reducing the burden of EU regulation on small and medium-sized enterprises?
Greg Clark
Yes. My hon. Friend will be aware that in Brussels the Prime Minister secured an agreement from the EU Commission that any future regulation should be assumed not to apply to small businesses unless a case were proved that it needed to do so. The Prime Minister has secured a significant step forward.