Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of targeted subsidies for small businesses in rural constituencies.

This Government recognises that rural areas offer significant potential for growth and are central to our economy. Over half a million business are registered in rural areas, with SMEs accounting for 99% of registered rural enterprises.

The Department for Business and Trade provides a range of existing offers that rural SMEs may wish to access. This includes support via the Business Support Service, Gov.uk, the network of 41 local Growth Hubs across England, and the Help to Grow: Management scheme to help improve leadership and management capabilities.

Later this year the Government will publish the SME Strategy Paper. This will set out the Government’s intentions on supporting small businesses across key areas, including thriving high streets, making it easier to secure finance, accessing overseas and domestic markets, encouraging entrepreneurship and building business capabilities, and providing a strong business environment. This will complement the Government’s forthcoming Industrial and Trade Strategies

On targeted subsidies, Defra funds capital projects for small businesses and community infrastructure in rural areas through the Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF). The fund will have provided up to £143 million of funding to eligible local authorities between April 2023 and March 2026.