Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to support small and medium-sized businesses in Gillingham and Rainham constituency.

Small businesses are vital to our economy and our small business owners have driven this economic recovery. The Gillingham and Rainham constituency has benefitted from a number of support schemes. The Business Bank’s Start-Up Loan programme has already provided 15 loans, with a value of £88,800 to people starting a business in Gillingham and Rainham. And since May 2010, the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme has supported 10 loans in the area with a total value of £1.06m.

We are committed to making Britain the best place in the world to start and grow a business, and are doing this in a number of ways, including:

• £10 billion of financing will be unlocked for smaller business over the next 5 years by our British Business Bank;
• Government grants of up to £3,000 for better internet connectivity are available to small businesses;

· The Business Support Helpline is available to provide bespoke information and advice;

· £2,000 cut from the National Insurance bills of small firms from the new Employment Allowance; and

· The Growth Accelerator scheme has supported over 19,800 firms and is on track to create 55,000 jobs and deliver £2.2 billion of economic growth by March 2015.