Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to improve small business confidence in Yeovil constituency.

As set out in the Plan for Change, the Government’s priority mission is to deliver strong, secure and sustainable economic growth. The Government will deliver this in partnership with businesses, making the UK the best place in the world to invest and to do business.

We recently published ‘Backing your business: our plan for small and medium-sized businesses’ which set out a long-term direction for the Government’s support for smaller firms. This includes:

- going further than any previous government with the most significant package of legislative reforms in 25 years to tackle late payments;

- increasing the financial capacity of the British Business Bank to £25.6bn, which will enable a two-thirds increase in support for SMEs across the UK. As part of this, we are expanding Start-up Loans to offer 69,000 new businesses, and committing to the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme for the longer term;

- cutting the administrative costs of regulation for business by 25%, to save businesses time and money so they can focus on running successful businesses;

- modernising the tax and customs system, as referenced in HMRC’s Transformation Roadmap - including AI powered tech and personalised digital experiences make it easier for small businesses to navigate their tax affairs

- Launching a High Streets and Growth Incubators to back high street businesses, redevelop commercial space and trigger private investment.

- delivering growth boosting support with a new Business Growth Service to unlock business potential.

I recognise the importance of the Defence sector for Yeovil’s economy. Our uplift of national defence spending to 2.6% of GDP, with the ambition to reach 3% in the next Parliament when economic and fiscal conditions, will help revitalise our economic base, benefiting towns like Yeovil.

Businesses in Yeovil can get access to free expert advice, support and signposting to all kinds of Government programmes by engaging through the Heart of the South West Growth Hub.