Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the delivery partners for the £500 million fund for underrepresented entrepreneurs have appropriate (a) governance and (b) accountability mechanisms in place.

The £500 million programme of investment for entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups is a new initiative by the British Business Bank which has not yet opened for applications. This includes a £400m Investor Pathways Capital initiative, an addition of £50m in the Invest in Women Taskforce and an addition of £50m in the female-led funds that are aligned with the eight growth-driving sectors of the Industrial Strategy.

All Bank programmes, delivery partners and Fund Managers are subject to robust standards of monitoring, reporting, and independent evaluation with oversight by the Bank's investment committee and DBT. Performance of delivery partners is monitored, and the distribution of finance is tracked, including by diversity characteristics such as sex and ethnicity and a programme of early assessments, interim and final evaluations.