Oral Answers to Questions

Matt Hancock Excerpts

Thursday 20th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

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

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

The British Business Bank is now fully operational and has facilitated a total of £2.3 billion of new lending and investment to more than 21,000 businesses. The growth accelerator scheme supports just under 20,000 firms, and 22,600 start-up loans have been drawn down, totalling more than £199 million. More than that, we support small businesses by delivering on our long-term economic plan.

[Robert Halfon]

Is my right hon. Friend aware that in 2012 research by Experian for the BBC said that Harlow had the highest rate of business growth in the whole of the United Kingdom? I am holding my own business awards to honour some of Harlow’s best businesses. We have had more than 300 nominations and I will be announcing the result on small business Saturday. Will he congratulate the businesses that have been nominated and recognise the incredible contribution they have made to Harlow’s community?

[Matthew Hancock]

I do congratulate the businesses that have been nominated and all the businesses that have contributed to a fall in unemployment in Harlow of more than 40% in the past year. My hon. Friend’s jobs fairs have contributed to that and I have no doubt that his support for small business Saturday, which all Members should support, will help to ensure that businesses can thrive in Harlow and elsewhere.

[Mr Iain McKenzie (Inverclyde) (Lab)]

Under this Government, small businesses have been hit by a £1,500 rise in business rates. With so many of our small businesses up and down the country on our high streets under pressure, especially at this time of year, why will the Secretary of State and the Minister not back Labour’s plans to cut and freeze business rates to help our small firms?

[Matthew Hancock]

We have gone further than that: we have cut by £1,000 business rates for all small retail premises. It is crucial to ensure that business rates work in the long term. They raise a lot of revenue and we have to be aware of that fact. There will be a review in the run-up to 2017, when there will be a planned revaluation. I understand the impact of business rates and we have to ensure that they work better.

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

Access to banking support is vital for small businesses, yet in my constituency NatWest is closing its Stubbington branch and later this month HSBC will close the last bank in Lee-on-Solent. Will the Minister urge those banks to do more to keep these important local services open?

[Matthew Hancock]

Yes, of course. The changes in banking and the way most people bank—their use of technology—has an impact on how banks operate. Having visited Stubbington and Lee-on-Solent with my hon. Friend only this week, I know how important these issues are locally. Ultimately, this is a commercial matter for the banks, but we have to ensure that banking services are available in all communities, not least to make sure that vulnerable people have access to services if they cannot use the technology.

[David Wright (Telford) (Lab)]

Access to start-up finance is clearly very important for small businesses, but businesses also need growth funding. They need to be able to consolidate and expand their businesses. Businesses in Telford often tell me that they want to take the next step forward but find it difficult to secure finance. What more can the Government do to support them?

[Matthew Hancock]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. The 22,000 firms that have received start-up loans have been supported, but the new British Business Bank, something that we have not had before, has supported £2.3 billion of financing, a lot of it to the scale-up firms that he is talking about. Ultimately, we need a strong banking system. After the chaos the banking system was left in, we have been turning that around with stronger regulation. Banking balance sheets are starting to improve and move in the right direction, but it has taken an awfully long time to turn the mess around.

[Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)]

As we head towards small business Saturday, which enjoys the support of the entire House, one group of small businesses that will be feeling better supported and be looking forward with more optimism are the nation’s tied pub tenants. The run-up to Tuesday’s vote saw the Government mired in confusion, as last-minute changes and amendments were proposed and dropped with alarming speed. Will the Minister tell the House what steps he will be taking to ensure that this important change is delivered in a way that works for everyone who cares about Britain’s great pubs?

[Matthew Hancock]

We are considering and reflecting on the will of the House as it was expressed this week, but be in no doubt that it is this Government who support pubs and publicans more than possibly any Government before: the first cut in beer duty in decades, two cuts in beer duty, and support through ensuring there is community support for pubs. We will not rest in our support for British pubs.

[Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

3. What estimate he has made of the contribution net trade will make to GDP over the next four years.

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

United Kingdom Trade & Investment uses the brilliant “Exporting is GREAT” marketing campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of exporting and to encourage small businesses to export. Last week was UKTI’s national exporting week. Over 150 UKTI trade officers from posts around the world provided export advice to more than 5,000 companies.

[Henry Smith]

Since this Government came to office, UKTI has done a lot to support companies in my constituency to export, but what specific assistance can be given to the smallest firms, such as the members of Crawley federation of small businesses, to give them the confidence to make the most of lucrative export markets?

[Matthew Hancock]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend about the goal of making sure that exports are done not only by big multinationals but by small businesses wherever they can. Some 89% of UKTI customers are small and medium-sized enterprises and nearly one in five is new to exporting or has been exporting for less than a year. I think we should do all we can to encourage this trend.

[Mr Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

7. When he next plans to meet the Construction Industry Training Board to discuss apprenticeships.

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[Sir Robert Smith (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD)]

With several hundred job losses already announced in the north-east of Scotland as projects come to maturity in the North sea and costs rise, what are the Government doing to encourage further investment and exploration and to underpin many vital jobs across the UK?

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

The hon. Gentleman raises a vital point, not least because of the fall in the oil price we have seen in the past few weeks, which is good news for the consumers at the pump but tough in Aberdeen. With the Wood review, we are reviewing and making more business friendly the regulation of offshore oil drilling, and we also have a review of the fiscal regime, because our goal is to get every economic drop out of the North sea.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

Yesterday the Prime Minister had a meeting with north-east Lincolnshire Members of Parliament about the Scunthorpe steelworks site and the wider Tata long products divisional issue. As chair of the all-party parliamentary group for steel, I twice asked to attend that meeting and was twice refused. Will the Secretary of State please talk to the Prime Minister to see whether the APPG for steel can have a conversation with him so that the industrial divisional issue is not missed just because of the geography of Scunthorpe?

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[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

The latest Office for National Statistics bulletin showed that manufacturing production had increased by 2.9% over the same time last year. These are encouraging figures. What more can I tell manufacturers in my constituency about further action that will be taken to support them?

[Matthew Hancock]

There will be continued further action to support manufacturers, and not only on the skills front, where it is vital to increase engineering skills. In April there will be a further cut in corporation tax to help companies to employ more people—something that is opposed by the Labour party.

[Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)]

I thank the Secretary of State for his engagement with the all-party group for the steel and metal related industry. Its members are from across the whole of the UK and they are concerned about the Tata Steel situation. May I implore him again—this was raised earlier—to ensure that his Department’s engagement with the Klesch group is predicated on trying to secure as many of those jobs as possible for the long term? People in the steel industry in my constituency and across the UK are very concerned, given the Klesch group’s record in other parts of Europe.