Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to work with the community development finance institute sector to create a long-term tool to leverage investment into underserved businesses.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is committed to fostering a strong, diverse and competitive financial services sector to ensure that SMEs can access the right type of finance to meet their needs.
The Government recognises the vital role that alternative lenders, including Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs), have played in the provision of credit to SMEs and is grateful for the way the sector has responded during the pandemic. It remains committed to promoting competition and widening the finance options available to UK businesses. We will continue to review our policies and work with the sector through its trade body, Responsible Finance, to achieve those outcomes.
One example of this collaboration is the Start Up Loans programme, whose extension for a further three years was confirmed at Budget. The programme offers loans of up to £25,000 to entrepreneurs and the participation of CDFIs as delivery partners helps to ensure that this opportunity is available to underserved businesses across the UK. 11 of the 21 Start Up Loans delivery partners are CDFIs, and they account for approx. 30 per cent of the loans issued through the scheme in 2020/21.
More widely, the British Business Bank was working with 21 CDFI delivery partners across a range of its programmes at July 2021. These programmes include the Regional Funds and the Recovery Loan Scheme. In addition, 14 CDFIs were accredited lenders for the Covid loan schemes.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2021 to Question 56362 on Insolvency: Standards, when proposals for consultation on the insolvency profession will be published.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government will publish its proposals for consultation on the regulatory regime for the insolvency profession shortly.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans the Government has to ensure that the Local Electricity Bill achieves its aim of unblocking the potential for community renewable energy generation.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government agrees with the broad intentions of the Local Electricity Bill, but does not support it as the means to enable local energy supply. There are already mechanisms in the market to allow local supply. The current Ofgem regulatory regime allows for a company to supply a specific geographic area, and small-scale generators can also apply for a licence exemption in some cases to reduce the regulatory burdens of operating at a community level.
The Government supports community energy projects through the Rural Community Energy Fund and will work with Ofgem to ensure that local communities can play their role in delivering Net Zero and a Green Recovery.