Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to support access to finance for SMEs in the West Midlands.

The Government is committed to ensuring that businesses across the UK, including in the West Midlands, can access the capital they need to grow. Through the British Business Bank (BBB), we are delivering a range of targeted interventions, including loan guarantee programmes and equity investment, designed to address regional funding gaps and unlock investment opportunities.

Businesses in the West Midlands already benefit from the £400 million Midlands Engine Investment Fund II (MEIF). This fund is increasing the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for smaller businesses across the Midlands and enabling businesses that might otherwise not receive investment to access capital.

The BBB’s 2025 Impact Report estimates that their investments supported 2,200 West Midlands SMEs in 2024/25, and created 2,000 jobs. This follows the 10 June milestone of more than £100 million having been provided to West Midlands businesses as part of the Start Up Loans programme. The Bank also hosted a ‘Meet the Investor’ event in partnership with Tech UK in Birmingham in March to help connect SMEs with potential investors.

West Midlands businesses will also benefit from the recent Spending Review uplift, which increased the Bank’s total capacity to £25.6 billion. This uplift will enable the Bank to make annual investments of around £2.5 billion, supporting more high-growth and innovative UK businesses access finance across the UK.