Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what measures are in place to monitor repayments among businesses in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency receiving government-backed loans.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The package is a commitment from the UK’s top high-street banks to lend more to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) using UK Export Finance’s (UKEF’s) guarantee, to boost UK exports and economic growth. It signals to SMEs that want to export that there is a dedicated pool of capital available for them from lenders whom they trust.
Repayment of the loans will be managed by the respective banks, applying their regular criteria and processes. UKEF has robust legal agreements in place which set requirements regarding monitoring of potential defaults and making relevant recoveries.
While we have not made formal assessments of the economic impact of the SME Exporter Fund, last year UK Export Finance (UKEF) provided £14.5 billion of support to UK exporters, in turn supporting up to 70,000 jobs and contributing £5.4 billion to the economy.
Each bank has agreed to make the funds available across the whole of the UK. UKEF also has a network of export finance managers (EFMs) around the whole country who are valuable points of contact for local businesses and can provide information on the range of support available. Contact details for the EFM covering Buckingham and Bletchley, and others, can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/find-an-export-finance-manager
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what evaluation criteria will be used to assess the economic impact of the £11 billion lending support on businesses in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The package is a commitment from the UK’s top high-street banks to lend more to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) using UK Export Finance’s (UKEF’s) guarantee, to boost UK exports and economic growth. It signals to SMEs that want to export that there is a dedicated pool of capital available for them from lenders whom they trust.
Repayment of the loans will be managed by the respective banks, applying their regular criteria and processes. UKEF has robust legal agreements in place which set requirements regarding monitoring of potential defaults and making relevant recoveries.
While we have not made formal assessments of the economic impact of the SME Exporter Fund, last year UK Export Finance (UKEF) provided £14.5 billion of support to UK exporters, in turn supporting up to 70,000 jobs and contributing £5.4 billion to the economy.
Each bank has agreed to make the funds available across the whole of the UK. UKEF also has a network of export finance managers (EFMs) around the whole country who are valuable points of contact for local businesses and can provide information on the range of support available. Contact details for the EFM covering Buckingham and Bletchley, and others, can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/find-an-export-finance-manager
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of regulation on scale-ups operating across multiple sectors.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We routinely engage businesses to get their views to assess the impact of regulation on businesses, including through our business questionnaire ‘Unlocking business: reform driven by you’ and our regular Business Perceptions Survey.
Our Regulation Action Plan introduced a series of regulatory reforms designed to make the UK the best place to grow and scale and a business. Building on this, we are shifting the way we support our scale-ups to grow, as set out in the package of growth measures announced by the Secretary of State on 20th January.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how the effectiveness of the growth package for scale-ups will be evaluated.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The growth package announced by the Secretary of State on 20th January builds upon commitments made in the Industrial Strategy. The departments and public bodies which operate the policies and programmes that make up the Industrial Strategy are responsible for conducting monitoring and evaluation of their policies. Further, the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council will oversee and provide advice in support of government to monitor and evaluate the Industrial Strategy as a whole. Government and public bodies will work with the Council to support this.
The £25m BBB investment into Kraken Technologies and £100m in fund investments will be evaluated against the BBB’s core KPIs of Gross Value Added and portfolio financial return. UKEF’s support for UK exporters through high-street banks helps to unlock additional finance for high-growth exporters and contributes to their five-year business plan which sets out their ambition to support over 1,000 SMEs per year by 2029. As the department's Accounting Officer, UKEF's CEO is accountable to Parliament.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure that regulatory reform supports access to domestic and international markets for scale-ups in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Our Regulation Action Plan, published last year, included reforms to the regulatory system designed to unlock growth, boost innovation and reduce burdens across key business sectors. As part of this we will lift up to 51,000 companies from unnecessary reporting obligations through our modernising corporate reporting programme. New regulatory reviews will simplify and streamline rules, reducing paperwork, cutting duplication and supporting innovation.
Export-ready SMEs and scale-ups looking to sell to the world can access DBT’s export support services which provides free, in-market support.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what mechanisms exist within the UK-Indonesia Economic Growth Partnership to tackle regulatory divergence affecting cross-border trade and investment.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Economic Growth Partnership is a non-legally binding framework that will deepen cooperation between the UK and Indonesian Governments on areas of interest to our businesses. It is a signal of the UK and Indonesia’s commitment to grow our bilateral trade and investment.
The Economic Growth Partnership will address non-tariff and regulatory barriers raised by UK businesses, establish a regular dialogue to resolve issues and deepen co-operation in areas of commercial interest to the UK, including clean energy, health and life sciences, financial services and the digital economy.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support SMEs to benefit from trade and investment opportunities under the UK-Indonesia Economic Growth Partnership in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
By 2030 Indonesia is predicted to be the 16th largest economy globally, and the 9th largest by 2050. Indonesia’s growing middle class, abundant natural resources and economic potential presents trade and investment opportunities for UK companies. The Economic Growth Partnership provides a framework to support opportunities for UK and Indonesian businesses of all sizes and locations.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what criteria his Department is using to identify regulatory barriers affecting high-growth firms.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade engages regularly with stakeholders, businesses and their representative organisations to identify regulatory barriers affecting businesses, including high-growth firms. Last year we launched a business questionnaire ‘Unlocking Business: reform driven by you’ which gathered feedback from businesses to identify outdated, duplicative and disproportionate regulations and regulatory practices that hinder growth and innovation.
In addition to this, officials also held discussions with businesses in all four nations of the UK across key, growth-driving sectors, to identify other regulatory barriers to growth. Going forward, findings from these will be used to inform our Regulation for Growth programme.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the UK-Indonesia Economic Growth Partnership on financial services firms seeking market access in Indonesia.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Economic Growth Partnership is a non-legally binding framework that will deepen cooperation between the UK and Indonesian Governments on areas of interest to our businesses, including in Financial Services.
The Economic Growth Partnership reaffirms the commitment by Indonesia’s Ministry of Finance and HM Treasury to hold a programme of Financial Services Working Groups to deepen dialogue and cooperation on key issues of mutual interest. It complements our support for Indonesia’s application to join the CPTPP.
A new Forum chaired by Indonesian and UK Ministers will monitor progress on activities set out in the Economic Growth Partnership.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to co-ordinate with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) UK regulations on financial services engagement as a result of the UK-Indonesia Economic Growth Partnership.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Economic Growth Partnership is a non-legally binding framework that will deepen cooperation between the UK and Indonesian Governments on areas of interest to our businesses, including in Financial Services.
The Economic Growth Partnership reaffirms the commitment by Indonesia’s Ministry of Finance and HM Treasury to hold a programme of Financial Services Working Groups to deepen dialogue and cooperation on key issues of mutual interest. It complements our support for Indonesia’s application to join the CPTPP.
A new Forum chaired by Indonesian and UK Ministers will monitor progress on activities set out in the Economic Growth Partnership.