Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to work with the community development finance institute sector to create a long-term tool to leverage investment into underserved businesses.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is committed to fostering a strong, diverse and competitive financial services sector to ensure that SMEs can access the right type of finance to meet their needs.
The Government recognises the vital role that alternative lenders, including Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs), have played in the provision of credit to SMEs and is grateful for the way the sector has responded during the pandemic. It remains committed to promoting competition and widening the finance options available to UK businesses. We will continue to review our policies and work with the sector through its trade body, Responsible Finance, to achieve those outcomes.
One example of this collaboration is the Start Up Loans programme, whose extension for a further three years was confirmed at Budget. The programme offers loans of up to £25,000 to entrepreneurs and the participation of CDFIs as delivery partners helps to ensure that this opportunity is available to underserved businesses across the UK. 11 of the 21 Start Up Loans delivery partners are CDFIs, and they account for approx. 30 per cent of the loans issued through the scheme in 2020/21.
More widely, the British Business Bank was working with 21 CDFI delivery partners across a range of its programmes at July 2021. These programmes include the Regional Funds and the Recovery Loan Scheme. In addition, 14 CDFIs were accredited lenders for the Covid loan schemes.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2021 to Question 56362 on Insolvency: Standards, when proposals for consultation on the insolvency profession will be published.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government will publish its proposals for consultation on the regulatory regime for the insolvency profession shortly.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans the Government has to ensure that the Local Electricity Bill achieves its aim of unblocking the potential for community renewable energy generation.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government agrees with the broad intentions of the Local Electricity Bill, but does not support it as the means to enable local energy supply. There are already mechanisms in the market to allow local supply. The current Ofgem regulatory regime allows for a company to supply a specific geographic area, and small-scale generators can also apply for a licence exemption in some cases to reduce the regulatory burdens of operating at a community level.
The Government supports community energy projects through the Rural Community Energy Fund and will work with Ofgem to ensure that local communities can play their role in delivering Net Zero and a Green Recovery.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with (a) employers and (b) trade unions on the health and safety of workers returning to work.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy worked with a wide range of stakeholders to draft the guidance on safe return to work, as well as Public Health England and the Health and Safety Executive.
The Secretary of State chaired seven roundtables and held other discussions involving employers, employees, unions, employer representative organisations and industry bodies. Additionally, there was extensive official-level engagement with those stakeholders as well as other Government department officials.
In all, the Department engaged in over 1000 one-to-one and group discussions. We made drafts of the guidance available to stakeholders to gather direct feedback, and we received over 750 responses to that consultation process. The final guidance reflects that incredible collective effort.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support he plans to provide to newly formed businesses that are not eligible for his Department's covid-19 support schemes.
Answered by Paul Scully
Government continues to monitor the Covid-19 schemes and is providing support across business for VAT and tax deferrals; and all business can reach out to their lenders and landlords for payment holidays during the Covid crisis.
Government is working with lenders to ensure that businesses can access finance. Depending on their eligibility newly formed businesses may be eligible for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) or Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS).
Businesses are eligible for the CBILS if they are UK-based in their activity, with annual turnover of no more than £45m. For start-ups, or SMEs which have traded for less than 12 months, the lender should estimate turnover based upon the SME’s forecasted turnover for the first 12 months of trading.
Businesses are eligible for the BBLS if they are UK-based in their activity, were established on or before 1 March 2020 and have been negatively affected by Coronavirus.
All businesses in England including your constituency, can continue to access support through our GOV.UK website, the Business Support Helpline (0300 456 3565), and through their Local Growth Hubs.