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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure that people with disabilities receive support to start small business enterprises.

Our approach is to ensure help is available to all who want to start and grow a business, including individuals with disabilities. The Business Support Helpline provides bespoke advice to anyone who needs it. Currently around 1% of callers to the Helpline state they have a disability. It can send information in large fonts or braille and also provides a text phone service. Material is also available on www.gov.uk.

The Start-Up Loans programme provides loans and mentoring support. It operates through a network of delivery partners who adhere to FCA Regulations on Treating Customers Fairly, which include reference to the treatment of customers with a disability.

The Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) New Enterprise Allowance provides funding and advice to people on certain benefits to help them start their own business. It supported 15,500 people with disabilities between April 2011 and September 2015. DWP’s Access to Work scheme supports people with a disability, health or mental health condition to help them start working, stay in work or start a business.