Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2023 to Question 1823 on Business: Insolvency, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle the trend in the number of companies declaring insolvency in that period.

The Government was pleased to see that the latest statistics reported by the Insolvency Service showed the number of corporate insolvencies in March 2024 had fallen by 28% compared to March 2023.

The Government continues to help businesses, including through a swathe of policy measures in the Autumn explicitly aimed at ‘Backing British business’. Recent and current policies supporting businesses include:

• Energy Bills Discount Scheme that provided discounts on high energy bills to eligible businesses and other non-domestic energy users from April 2023 to April 2024.

• Continued frozen small business rates multiplier and business rates relief for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure sector, the latter policy supporting around 230,000 properties up to £110,000 per business.

• Payment and cashflow review outlining measures to combat late payments that can jeopardise stable cashflows.

The Government will continue to monitor the UK corporate sector, using official data and engaging with firms and business groups to inform policy decisions.