Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve access to finance for small and family-run businesses in the light of recent increases in borrowing costs.

As part of the recent Spending Review and the Government’s Plan for Small and Medium Sized Businesses, this Government has committed to a range of measures to improve access to finance for small and family-run businesses. These include:

• Expanding the ENABLE Guarantee programme from £3 billion to £5 billion, to help lenders unlock more finance options for small businesses.
• Scaling up the Start-up Loans to offer 69,000 new businesses the chance of finance and mentoring.
• Placing the Growth Guarantee Scheme on a long-term footing with funding confirmed until March 2030.

Delivered by the British Business Bank (BBB) through around 50 accredited lenders, the Growth Guarantee Scheme helps SMEs who may not meet traditional creditworthiness criteria, to access debt finance.