Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help small businesses to grow.

Through our modern Industrial Strategy, we are making the UK one of the best places in the world for businesses to start up and grow.

The Government-owned British Business Bank is supporting nearly 78,000 small businesses with over £5.5 billion of finance; and we’ve extended funding for the Start Up Loans Company until 2021, supporting 10,000 more entrepreneurs.

We’re also providing £56m of funding to boost business productivity, including £11m to create a Small Business Leadership Programme.

Business across England can also access tailored advice and support through one of the 38 Local Growth Hubs, one in each Local Enterprise Partnership Area. These bring together public and private sector partners to deliver business support, making it easy for business to access the help and advice they need.

We have launched the £9 million Business Basics Programme, as announced in the Industrial Strategy, to test innovative ways of encouraging SMEs to take up the good practices that can help them to become more productive.

In addition, Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), drives productivity and growth by supporting businesses to realise the potential of new technologies, develop ideas and make them a commercial success.