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 discussions his Department has had with (a) local authorities and (b) regional growth bodies on export-capability development.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Working with local delivery bodies is a central part of our Plan for Small Businesses and Business Growth Service. A core principle of the Business Growth Service is local partnership working, including working with Growth Hubs and Mayoral Strategic Authorities.
Our Plan for Small Businesses, published in July, sets out the ways in which we will work with local authorities to deliver our ambitions of supporting businesses to grow.
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 his Department plans to monitor participation in trade promotion programmes by SMEs in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As outlined in our 2025 UK Trade Strategy, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is committed to the monitoring and evaluation of its performance to ensure continuous improvement.
DBT has developed a robust monitoring and evaluation framework for its existing export promotion activities, and data on participation is published in DBT’s Export Client Quality Survey.
In 2023/24, 17,449 businesses were supported by DBT export promotion services, of which 85% were classified as SMEs. We do not monitor participation by individual constituencies, but would be happy to be advised of any suitable SMEs in Buckingham and Bletchley.
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 estimate he has made of the skills support required to help UK firms expand into new export markets.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is committed to providing businesses with the support, advice and skills they need to export across the globe.
Businesses can access DBT’s wealth of export support via business.gov.uk. This includes support via the UK Export Academy, a free, comprehensive learning and development programme that boosts British businesses’ global trading capability.
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 assess supply chain readiness for increased export activity.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government recognises that robust supply chains are fundamental to enabling businesses to capitalise on export opportunities and drive sustainable growth. As outlined in the UK’s Trade Strategy, we are committed to working with businesses of all sizes to strengthen their capacity to compete in global markets.
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 his Department has made of the potential impact of reduced electricity costs for employers in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency on employment growth in energy-intensive sectors.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This Government is well aware of the pressures facing our energy intensive industries (EIIs), across the nation, including high electricity prices. Our recent announcement of the uplift of relief offered by the Network Charging Compensation Scheme from 60% to 90% highlights our intent to support UK EIIs in their decarbonisation transition. This support will deliver much needed financial relief allowing businesses, such as those in Buckingham and Bletchley, more financial headroom and the possibility to grow.
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 performance indicators his Department uses to measure the extent to which the British Business Bank has reduced the scale-up financing gap of R&D intensive companies.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The indicator used to assess the financing gap is venture capital (VC) investment as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the UK as compared to the US, measured over 3 years. This gap (across all sectors) has narrowed from 30% greater investment in the US in 2019-2021 to 10% for 2022-2024.
The British Business Bank’s Small Business Equity Tracker report 2025 notes that the gap for R&D intensive sectors is wider. VC investment in these industries represented 0.25% of GDP in the UK during 2022-2024 against 0.31% in the US, equivalent to a gap of 30%.
Between 2022 and 2024, 49% of Bank-supported deals were in the tech sector, compared to 42% of deals across the overall market.
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 his Department has made of the potential for the recently announced funding for rural village pubs to support broader community-services provision in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Government recognises the important role rural pubs and those in deprived areas can play in supporting their communities and the work of Pub Is The Hub in helping them improve their resilience by providing additional community services.
That is why the Government has provided £440,000 to help Pub Is The Hub continue this important work. In its 2025 report: PiTH-Social-Value-of-Pubsfinal.pdf, Pub Is The Hub highlighted over 40 diversification projects that could not be delivered due to a lack of funding. Pub Is The Hub operates across the UK and applications for funding are assessed using its criteria.
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 applying to select rural pub diversification projects for the funding scheme.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Government recognises the important role rural pubs and those in deprived areas can play in supporting their communities and the work of Pub Is The Hub in helping them improve their resilience by providing additional community services.
That is why the Government has provided £440,000 to help Pub Is The Hub continue this important work. In its 2025 report: PiTH-Social-Value-of-Pubsfinal.pdf, Pub Is The Hub highlighted over 40 diversification projects that could not be delivered due to a lack of funding. Pub Is The Hub operates across the UK and applications for funding are assessed using its criteria.
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 proportion of the British Business Bank’s annual investment capacity has been earmarked for deployment in under-served (a) regions and (b) nations of the UK.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The British Business Bank invests flexibly, allowing it to react to changing market conditions. Most investment decisions are taken by the managers of funds in which the Bank has invested. For these reasons, investment is not generally earmarked in advance for specific nations and regions of the United Kingdom.
The £1.6 billion Nations and Regions Investment Funds are the exception. They currently provide debt and equity finance to businesses in three regions of England and in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Two new funds, covering South and East England, will launch in April 2026.
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, whether his Department has set a quantitative target for annual increases in private capital crowd-in by the British Business Bank over the next five years.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
No. Setting a quantitative target for annual increases in private capital crowd-in by the British Business Bank could incentivise a shift towards less risky investments, which are more likely to attract private capital. This would be contrary to the Bank’s purpose of addressing market gaps and under-served regions and entrepreneurs.
The amount of private capital crowded-in is reported in the Bank’s Impact Report, published annually. The most recent report shows that in the year to 3 March 2025 the Bank deployed £1.2 billion of public finance and crowded-in a further £3.0 billion, a ratio of 2.5 to one.