Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of finance for small firms and the level of lending by banks to small businesses.

Recent data from the Bank of England shows some signs that bank lending to SMEs is starting to recover. Gross lending to SMEs in the first 7 months of 2014 was nearly £30 billion, up 21% on the equivalent period last year. Net lending was at zero or modestly positive in each of the last three months if overdrafts are excluded, reversing a long term negative trend. Credit conditions, however, remain tight for the smallest businesses in particular.