Simon Hart
Main Page: Simon Hart (Conservative - Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire)
Simon Hart (Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire) (Con)
T6. One of the major barriers to the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in west Wales is banks refusing to offer facilities to—or, worse still, withdrawing facilities from—companies that are perfectly viable and with which they have had a relationship over many years. Will the Minister offer any advice to those companies and ensure us that he will work with the Treasury to iron out these issues?
Vince Cable
My hon. Friend recognises a real problem—there remains an issue with the supply of finance. Indeed, an independent survey on Monday demonstrated that about 15% of companies are probably discouraged from applying for it. We must wait for the figures in August from the Merlin process, but, as I have made clear in the House before, the Government can take further action if those figures are not satisfactory.