Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the regional spread of business debt in (a) each of the last three years and (b) during the cost of living crisis.

The regional spread of debt among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has remained broadly the same over the past three years. The following figures are taken from UK Finance data and are taken as a share of the value of loan facilities of SMEs in Great Britain.

Between Q2 2020 and Q4 2021, regional shares of SME lending:

· Increased in London (21% to 22%)

· Decreased in the South East (14% to 13%), and North West (11% to 10%)

· Stayed the same in the South West (11%), East Midlands (6%), West Midlands (9%), East of England (7%), Yorkshire and the Humber (7%), North East (3%), Wales (4%), and Scotland (8%)

Between Q1 2022 to Q2 2023, regional shares of SME lending:

· Increased in London (21% to 22%)

· Decreased in the North West (11% to 10%)

· Stayed the same in the South East (14%), South West (11%), East Midlands (6%), West Midlands (9%), East of England (7%), Yorkshire and the Humber (7%), North East (3%), Wales (4%) and Scotland (8%)

Government is helping more businesses get the finance they need through the next generation of Nations and Regions Investment Funds, which will provide £1.6 billion of debt and equity finance to small businesses outside London and the South East.

The first of these funds launched in the South West of England in July 2023.