Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 15845 on Small Businesses: Recruitment, when he plans to publish the small business strategy.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government will publish a Small Business Strategy Paper later this year.
This will set out the Government’s vision for all small businesses, from boosting scale-ups to growing the co-operative economy, across key policy areas such as creating thriving high streets, making it easier to access finance, opening up overseas and domestic markets, building business capabilities, and providing a strong business environment.
The paper will complement the Government’s forthcoming Industrial Strategy and Trade Strategy.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to support small businesses to recruit new employees.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Our forthcoming Small Business Strategy will reaffirm our long-term support for small businesses and outline our vision for boosting scale-ups and helping all types of business to thrive and grow. This strategy will empower business owners and entrepreneurs to innovate, export, and create jobs across their regions.
In addition, as confirmed in the autumn Budget the Government has taken steps to protect small businesses by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500. This measure will help small businesses in particular - in 2024 small businesses (with 0-49 employees) make up 99.2% of the total business population.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions he has had with the Post Office on opening a banking hub in Broxbourne constituency.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets and is committed to championing sufficient access for all.
We have committed to work closely with banks to roll out at least 350 banking hubs. That rollout is overseen by Cash Access UK (CAUK). LINK (the operator of the UK’s largest ATM network) assesses a community’s needs for access to cash in the event of the closure of a core cash service or if LINK receives a request directly from a community.