Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to encourage more women into business, entrepreneurship and the labour market; and what support they will provide to facilitate that.

The Government has set an ambition to increase the number of female entrepreneurs by half by 2030, equivalent to 600,000 new entrepreneurs. The Department is achieving this target by delivering recommendations in the Alison Rose Review, which found that if women started and scaled businesses at the same rate as men, this could add £250 billion to the UK economy. Over 150,000 new all-women led companies were founded in 2022 – more than ever before, and a fifth of new incorporations (20.5%) last year were all-female led, a figure that has risen from 16% in 2018. Since 2012, 40% of Start Up Loans have gone to women, worth over £355m (As of March 2023).

The Review made recommendations on access to finance; banking products; access to expertise; mentoring and networks; entrepreneurship in schools and available resources for entrepreneurs. The Government is delivering on these through initiatives such as the Investing in Women Code and Angel Investment Taskforce.