Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the Brexit Support Fund is easily accessible to small businesses; and what steps they are taking to increase applications.

The SME Brexit Support Fund was designed specifically for small businesses and we’ve worked closely with Business representative organisation to promote it. The Government is providing extensive guidance to businesses to ensure that the SME Brexit Support Fund is accessible to small businesses to pay for practical support, including training and/or professional advice. This guidance includes videos, webinars and step-by-step guides.

HMRC continue to work closely with a wide range of business representative organisations and trade associations to help businesses engage with new requirements, including through the latest public information campaign, cross-Government industry steering groups and events to increase application to the SME Brexit Support Fund.

PwC, the administrators of the grant, have emailed over 20,000 businesses who have expressed an interest in the scheme to re-engage unconverted registrants and those with partially completed applications. They have also introduced an outbound calling team and have spoken to over 1800 potential applicants to encourage them to submit an application, providing assistance as necessary.