Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her department is taking to increase the use of phone blocking (a) techniques and (b) technologies in prisons.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) is committed to tackling the threat to prison security posed by illicit mobile telephones. We have a wide-ranging programme in place to prevent them from entering prisons; to detect and disrupt their use by prisoners if they are smuggled in; and to investigate cases where a prisoner may have committed an offence.
As part of their local security strategies, prisons are able to deploy a range of measures to detect items of contraband, including X-ray body scanners, and Enhanced Gate Security that utilises X-ray baggage scanners and metal detection. Owing to security and operational sensitivities, however, it would not be appropriate to comment in detail on the countermeasures HMPPS has in place.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
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 merits of a quoted portfolio in the British Business Bank.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The British Business Bank does have some quoted holdings, largely as a result of post-investment corporate activity. The focus of the Bank is on strengthening private markets. Any expansion of the Bank’s mandate into public markets would need a comprehensive analysis of options and is unlikely to be undertaken in isolation from other measures to incentivise increased investment into those markets by institutional investors.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
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 contribution of small and mid-sized quoted companies to the Government's growth mission.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
SMEs, including quoted companies, are an integral part of the Government’s growth mission in creating vibrant and prosperous local communities and being critical to supply chains for key industries. They are a diverse group operating in every sector, region and international market.
The SME Strategy - due to be published this summer - will set out the Government’s intentions on supporting businesses across key areas, including thriving high streets, making it easier to secure finance, improving productivity, accessing new domestic and international markets, encouraging entrepreneurship and building business capabilities such as digital adoption, whilst tackling the scourge of late payments.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the (a) accessibility and (b) affordability of audit requirements for small and mid-sized quoted companies.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Audit standards for UK companies are adopted and set by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), with reference to internationally-agreed standards. The Government is aware of concerns about the cost and availability of high-quality audit for smaller quoted companies, and supports the FRC’s work to make sure that every UK company, including small and mid-sized quoted companies, can access good quality audit services at a proportionate cost, including through its current year-long campaign to support small and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, the Government will consider these issues as it develops legislation to reform audit and corporate governance.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent companies de-listing in London.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
We have already delivered an ambitious set of reforms to boost the competitiveness of UK markets including overhauling the Listing Rules, providing more flexibility to firms and founders raising capital. To create a stable regulatory environment, and complementing these reforms, the government is also establishing a 10-year strategy for financial services, with capital markets as a core pillar, which will be published at Mansion House on 15 July 2025.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to increase public and investor confidence in small and mid-sized quoted companies listed in the UK.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
We have already delivered an ambitious set of reforms to boost the competitiveness of UK markets, including for small and mid-sized quoted companies. This includes overhauling the Listing Rules, reforming the Prospectus regime to provide more flexibility to firms and founders raising capital and reducing reporting requirements for the smallest companies.
The government also maintains generous tax reliefs for small and mid-sized quoted companies including the Growth Market Exemption which provides relief from Stamp Taxes on Shares for companies on Recognised Growth Markets.
To create a stable regulatory environment, and complementing these reforms, the government is also establishing a 10-year strategy for financial services, which will be published at Mansion House on 15 July 2025.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to implement regulation that increases risk appetite among investors.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
We have already delivered an ambitious set of reforms to boost the competitiveness of UK markets, including for small and mid-sized quoted companies. This includes overhauling the Listing Rules, reforming the Prospectus regime to provide more flexibility to firms and founders raising capital and reducing reporting requirements for the smallest companies.
The government also maintains generous tax reliefs for small and mid-sized quoted companies including the Growth Market Exemption which provides relief from Stamp Taxes on Shares for companies on Recognised Growth Markets.
To create a stable regulatory environment, and complementing these reforms, the government is also establishing a 10-year strategy for financial services, which will be published at Mansion House on 15 July 2025.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to recognise the economic contributions of small and mid-sized quoted companies.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
We have already delivered an ambitious set of reforms to boost the competitiveness of UK markets, including for small and mid-sized quoted companies. This includes overhauling the Listing Rules, reforming the Prospectus regime to provide more flexibility to firms and founders raising capital and reducing reporting requirements for the smallest companies.
The government also maintains generous tax reliefs for small and mid-sized quoted companies including the Growth Market Exemption which provides relief from Stamp Taxes on Shares for companies on Recognised Growth Markets.
To create a stable regulatory environment, and complementing these reforms, the government is also establishing a 10-year strategy for financial services, which will be published at Mansion House on 15 July 2025.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to incentivise investment in small and mid-sized companies.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
This Government believes that small businesses are vital to the UK’s high streets and communities, and essential to the success of the government’s growth mission.
To support small businesses, the Government announced generous tax reforms at Autumn Budget 2024 including, most notably, more than doubling the employment allowance to £10,500; commitments in the Corporate Tax Roadmap to maintain the Small Profits Rate and marginal relief at their current rates and thresholds; and freezing the small businesses multiplier for 2025/26.
At the Spending Review, we have increased the financial capacity of the British Business Bank to £25.6bn, which will enable a two-thirds increase in support for SMEs across the UK. This investment is expected to crowd in tens of billions of pounds of private capital and will support innovative businesses to start, scale and stay in the UK.
We are also continuing to take measures to tackle late payments, which severely impact the cash flow of small businesses. This year we will be laying requirements for large companies to include information about their payment performance in their Annual Reports and launched the Fair Payment Code. We will also soon be launching a consultation on additional legislative measures to address late payments and long payment terms.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to increase liquidity for small and mid-sized companies.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
This Government believes that small businesses are vital to the UK’s high streets and communities, and essential to the success of the government’s growth mission.
To support small businesses, the Government announced generous tax reforms at Autumn Budget 2024 including, most notably, more than doubling the employment allowance to £10,500; commitments in the Corporate Tax Roadmap to maintain the Small Profits Rate and marginal relief at their current rates and thresholds; and freezing the small businesses multiplier for 2025/26.
At the Spending Review, we have increased the financial capacity of the British Business Bank to £25.6bn, which will enable a two-thirds increase in support for SMEs across the UK. This investment is expected to crowd in tens of billions of pounds of private capital and will support innovative businesses to start, scale and stay in the UK.
We are also continuing to take measures to tackle late payments, which severely impact the cash flow of small businesses. This year we will be laying requirements for large companies to include information about their payment performance in their Annual Reports and launched the Fair Payment Code. We will also soon be launching a consultation on additional legislative measures to address late payments and long payment terms.