Oral Answers to Questions

Matt Hancock Excerpts

Thursday 10th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mel Stride (Central Devon) (Con)]

7. What recent support he has provided to small businesses.

[The Minister for Skills and Enterprise (Matthew Hancock)]

We passionately support small businesses. Just this week, the new employer allowance has cut £2,000 from the national insurance bill of small companies to help them to grow and create jobs. That builds on the more than 15,000 start-up loans, the £1 billion saved by cutting red tape and the 32,000 businesses helped to export this year alone.

[Mel Stride]

Last Friday, I spent valuable time with some very hard-working high street traders in Chagford, an important town in my constituency. Many of the people there were very worried about the level of business taxation, yet they were unaware of the £2,000 reduction in charges for national insurance contributions and the reduction in rates to which the Minister has just referred. What steps is my hon. Friend taking to ensure that companies up and down the country are aware of these important incentives?

[Matthew Hancock]

My hon. Friend is a constant advocate for small businesses locally in Devon. He has raised the issue of business rates and business taxation with me. He will know that the £1,000 off business rates for retailers has been welcomed across the board; it is a small step towards addressing the challenges that business rates pose. This is all part of our long-term plan.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

Is the Minister aware that one of the smallest businesses in Britain now is the mining industry? There are three pits left, and 1,300 miners are due to be sacked at two of those pits. That will make it a minuscule small business. Instead of helping those pits to stay open and give them tax breaks, as they do to the oil companies, what have this Government done to that small business? They have just stolen £700 million out of the mineworkers pension fund this February. What a story to tell those miners. Come on—help ’em out!

[Matthew Hancock]

This morning, we announced a package of support for the mining industry, and I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will want to go and look at it before raising any further questions.

[Ian Lucas (Wrexham) (Lab)]

Is it not interesting that no Conservatives or Liberal Democrats are standing up to ask a question about small business? I saw a small business in Wrexham and spoke to Mr Phil Jackson of Fotofire, who told me that the Jobs Growth Wales scheme has enabled him to employ young people in a rapidly expanding media business. Will the Minister do something positive by looking at a scheme that is providing jobs for more than 9,000 young people in Wales, with 75% employment for those who go on the scheme in the first place?

[Matthew Hancock]

I am very glad to say that unemployment is falling throughout Wales as part of our long-term economic plan across the country. I am sure that in Wrexham, as elsewhere in the country, small businesses will be celebrating the fact that they are getting £2,000 off their jobs tax, which the Labour party has proposed to put up.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

8. What steps he is taking to promote trade opportunities for UK business in high-growth markets.

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[Sir Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con)]

17. What steps he is taking to help small and medium-sized businesses to export.

[The Minister for Skills and Enterprise (Matthew Hancock)]

Last year, we supported more than £4 billion of export finance, which is more than in any other year for a decade. This week, we announced additional funding to enable UKTI to support 3,000 more medium-sized businesses.

[Julian Smith]

Following the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies), will the Minister agree that the best way to exploit emerging markets is often through EU free trade agreements? In the light of that, will he support the all-party parliamentary group on European Union-United States trade and investment to ensure that small and micro businesses are front and centre in the proposed free trade agreement with America?

[Matthew Hancock]

I am a strong supporter of the transatlantic trade and investment partnership. The trade deal between the EU and Canada is a big step forward and provides a basis on which we can build TTIP. The involvement of small businesses in TTIP will provide them with extremely valuable support in creating jobs.

[Sir Tony Baldry]

We have some excellent exporters in north Oxfordshire, such as Norbar Torque, E. P. Barrus, Crompton Technology and Prodrive to name but a few. Those companies generate jobs themselves and through the contracts that they give to local SMEs. What is my hon. Friend doing to support SMEs in the export supply chain?

[Matthew Hancock]

Across the Department, we work to support supply chains. Specifically, UKTI’s high value opportunities programme targets 100 projects that are based globally. That programme supports not just the primes, but their supply chains in Oxfordshire and across the country.

[Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab)]

One area of export growth has been in recyclate of glass and plastics. Unfortunately, that has had a perverse effect because the packaging recovery note system, which is supposed to direct money into the creation of infrastructure for our own recycling industry, has been denied the feedstock that the industry needs if it is to grow. Will the Minister look at what more he can do to expand our recycling industry, rather than export it?

[Matthew Hancock]

I would be delighted to speak to the hon. Gentleman to understand more about the packaging recycling industry and to see whether we can tackle that problem.

[Mr Russell Brown (Dumfries and Galloway) (Lab)]

If we are to grow the economy and increase exports, we need to ensure that there is support for SMEs. In the last quarter, net lending to small and medium-sized enterprises fell by more then £1 billion. When will Ministers get a grip and start backing our wealth creators to take on employees and develop greater opportunities for exports?

[Matthew Hancock]

Of course, the economy is growing, jobs are being created and the amount of gross lending is rising, but we are recovering from an extremely difficult situation. We all know what the causes of that were, and many of them came from those on the Labour Front Bench. Turning around our economy to support small businesses, whether through access to finance, support for exports, which are going up, or otherwise, is the Government’s central task. It is a huge job, because we were left in a huge hole.

[Mr David Heath (Somerton and Frome) (LD)]

It is absolutely essential that we encourage more small and medium-sized businesses to export, but does the Minister agree that the term “SMEs” is often unhelpful? There is a huge difference between the needs of medium-sized and small businesses, and between the range of small businesses, from the largest to single proprietor? Will he recognise those differences and tailor accordingly?

[Matthew Hancock]

I strongly support my hon. Friend. In fact, as part of our long-term economic plan I am trying to banish the term “SMEs” and instead use “small businesses”. A business with, say, 10 employees is very different from a business with 249 employees, so an end to the acronym “SME” would be a valuable step forward.

[Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)]

12. What assessment he has made of the value for money for the public purse of the recent sale of shares in Royal Mail.

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[Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con)]

14. What recent steps he has taken to encourage young people to get involved in business.

[The Minister for Skills and Enterprise (Matthew Hancock)]

Building links between the worlds of education and employment is a vital part of our reforms. I can announce to the House today that we are publishing the revised statutory guidance for schools on careers guidance and inspiration. This will drive links between schools and colleges and employers to inspire and mentor pupils, and there will be no excuse for schools and colleges not to open their doors to employers and no excuse for employers not to engage with schools and colleges. I will place a copy of the guidance in the Library.

[Adam Afriyie]

I thank the Minister for that response and very much welcome the Government’s commitment to increasing access and exposure to, and experience of, business in schools, because it is through business and enterprise that people access social mobility, jobs and opportunity. Does he agree that we need constantly to seek better ways of connecting businesses with schools and ensuring that proper careers advice is provided by people with experience of business, rather than merely from teachers?

[Matthew Hancock]

Exactly. I pay tribute to the work that my hon. Friend does in bringing together employers and schools and colleges so that young people know what it takes to succeed in work. The strengthened statutory guidance that we are publishing today will help to drive that, alongside league tables that include not just exam results, as before, but pupils’ destinations.

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

15. What steps he is taking to improve productivity.

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[The Minister for Skills and Enterprise (Matthew Hancock)]

We now live in a world in which an increasing amount of trade is carried out online at times that are convenient to consumers and others. We relaxed the rules during the Olympics, and said at the time that we would assess the impact of that relaxation. A debate about the issue is undoubtedly taking place.

[Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham) (Lab)]

T6. The latest report from the Higher Education Funding Council for England shows for the first time in 29 years a decline in the number of overseas students studying in the United Kingdom. Let me now give the Secretary of State another opportunity to admit that the inclusion of students in the net migration target is hindering the growth and international competitiveness of our British universities.

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[Jenny Chapman (Darlington) (Lab)]

When I visit schools in my constituency I ask them about the careers information, advice and guidance they receive and, without exception, they say that it is totally dreadful. To be fair to the Government, it was not much better under the previous Government. This is very important for social mobility, so what is the Minister intending to do to make face-to-face guidance available to everybody?

[Matthew Hancock]

That is a very fair question. It is true that careers guidance has not been good enough in Britain for an awfully long time under Governments of all stripes and the new publication today, which I am sure the hon. Lady will want to get a copy of and I am happy to send to her, will strengthen the statutory duty on schools and also, crucially, open schools and colleges up to employers and encourage, and make it easier for, employers to get involved in schools, to inspire and mentor and give guidance to young people.

[Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham) (Con)]

Farmers are the backbone of the £97 billion agriculture and food sector. How are the Government helping them take advantage of the latest science and innovation supporting our world-class agricultural technology sector?

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[Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

The start-up loan scheme is one of the most inspirational business policies that this Government are pursuing. Can the small business Minister confirm that we are right behind it, we are putting more money into it and we will do everything we can to grow the scheme as much as possible?

[Matthew Hancock]

Yes, I will. Only this week, we took through the statutory instrument to expand the start-up loans scheme and ensure that the funding is available. Fifteen thousand people have now had the benefit of using the scheme, but it is not just about the money; it is about the mentoring and the wider support that come with a start-up loan, and I commend everyone to have a look at the scheme and commend it to their constituents.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Does the Secretary of State share my concern that, following the closure of the Insolvency Service office in Hull, there will be a gap between Newcastle and Ipswich with no Insolvency Service offices between those two areas? Will he agree to meet me to discuss this matter?