Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the ability of newly formed companies to access finance.

The Government works with the British Business Bank to improve the access to finance landscape for smaller businesses. An example of the Bank’s interventions is the Start Up Loans programme which provides personal loans to start up a new business or develop an existing early-stage business. The programme also offers pre-application support and post-loan mentoring advice. Programme evaluation in December 2024 found just over two-thirds of the finance provided by Start Up Loans would not have been provided by mainstream providers.

In addition, a call for evidence has been launched by the Department on small business access to finance, seeking views on how far existing policies meet business needs, and where we may be able to go further.