Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Department for Education

Oral Answers to Questions

Natascha Engel Excerpts
Thursday 18th November 2010

(14 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lilian Greenwood Portrait Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)
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9. What steps he is taking to increase lending to small businesses.

Natascha Engel Portrait Natascha Engel (North East Derbyshire) (Lab)
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13. What steps he is taking to increase lending to small businesses.

Mark Prisk Portrait The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Mr Mark Prisk)
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The latest official information shows that more than two thirds of loan applications from small firms are approved. However, the Government are determined to press the banks to ensure that creditworthy businesses have the finance that they need. Among the actions that we are taking are enforcing lending codes, improving customer information and extending the enterprise finance guarantee.

Mark Prisk Portrait Mr Prisk
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With due respect, the hon. Lady forgets that the banks and the community development finance institutions are a crucial part of this discussion. If the FSB in her area wishes to make representations, I would encourage it, with her support, to do so.

Natascha Engel Portrait Natascha Engel
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In spite of what the Minister says, what is he doing to allay the concerns of eBay, which says that banks are still not lending to businesses? His Government did have lending targets for financing small businesses—what happened to them?

Mark Prisk Portrait Mr Prisk
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We still have the lending targets. The key thing is enforcement, which, despite the chuntering from those on the Opposition Front Bench, the last Government failed to do. What is important is that we now have a new lending code. The hon. Lady is absolutely right to say that businesses—whether they be eBay-based or real rather than virtual or online businesses—want a lending code and a proper appeal process. We have those, and I am determined to make sure that we enforce them.