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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what strategy his Department has to support a growth pipeline to help small businesses in Scotland expand.

Small businesses play a central role in driving economic growth across the UK and this Government is committed to supporting their continued success.

The industrial strategy will build on this to make the most of the diverse strengths of all of Britain’s cities and regions including Scotland, and grasp the opportunities that could drive faster growth in each of them.

Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness City Deals have seen £702m of additional funding from the UK government flow into Scotland. Projects and programmes agreed are helping businesses by: establishing new incubation and innovation hubs; improving local infrastructure; extending and improving the quality of broadband; and tackling key barriers to growth in certain sectors.

Moving forward we are committed to working with the Scottish Government and local communities to agree further deals with: Edinburgh and South East Scotland; Stirling and Clackmannanshire; Tay Cities; and Borderlands.