Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on funding to support small and medium-sized businesses starting up on high streets in Northern Ireland.

This government is committed to resetting relations with the Devolved Governments, to work collaboratively and deliver the best outcomes for people across the UK, including the people of Northern Ireland. To this end, the Deputy Prime Minister visited Northern Ireland and met with the First and Deputy First Ministers within days of taking office.

This early engagement has been followed by further meetings between MHCLG Ministers and their NI Executive counterparts. I had the pleasure of visiting Northern Ireland in September of last year as part of the ongoing reset in relations, and over the course of the autumn had highly constructive introductory conversations with the NI Ministers for Finance, Communities and Economy. I continue to engage with NI Ministers on our shared priorities in relation to local growth.

You will be aware that we recently confirmed the UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocation for NI for 2025-26. As part of this, we are working with NI councils and the Department for the Economy on Go Succeed, which provides support for people across Northern Ireland to start and grow their business.

The government will publish its Small Business Strategy later this year which will set out the government’s vision for supporting small businesses, across key policy areas such as creating thriving high streets and making it easier to access finance. We will be engaging closely with the Northern Ireland Executive and SMEs across the UK to support its development.