Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Government support provided to pubs during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
We regularly engage with the industry to understand the challenges that pubs are facing. We have provided a range of business support which pubs have been able to take advantage of, including a one-year business rates holiday, business support grants and government-backed loans. Recently, further support has been announced such as the Job Support Scheme and its extension and the Local Restrictions Support Grant scheme.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many applications have been (a) accepted and (b) rejected under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.
Answered by Paul Scully
As of 31 May, 699,354 loans have been approved under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), with a total value of £21.29 billion.
The Scheme has received 873,192 applications. The applications figure includes: approved applications; applications that are still to be processed; applications that have been declined; and applications that may turn out not to be eligible or cases where customers will decide not to proceed.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much the average loan application is for the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.
Answered by Paul Scully
As of 31 May, 699,354 loans have been approved under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), with a total value of £21.29 billion.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions his Department has had with the banking sector to ensure applications for the Business Interruption Loan Scheme are dealt with in a timely manner.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) is part of a comprehensive package of support for SMEs. The Government held discussions with the banking industry prior to the launch of CBILS. The Business Secretary continues to hold a regular dialogue with the largest CBILS lenders to monitor its implementation.
The Government has responded to feedback from stakeholders on CBILS, which includes the time taken by lenders to process applications, by:
The Government will continue to monitor the scheme and introduce amendments as appropriate.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many businesses have benefitted from the covid-19 Small Business Grant in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, (b) Bexley Borough, (c) London and (d) England.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government has made £12.3 billion available to businesses under the Small Business Grants Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund. Local authorities are contacting businesses directly to deliver these grants.
As of 3 May, 696,970 business premises in England have received grants across the two schemes, totalling £8.595 billion, with more money delivered to businesses every day. In the London Borough of Bexley, grant payments have been made to 2,464 business premises, with a total number of 79,886 business premises benefiting from the two schemes in London. We do not hold information at constituency level, however, a full breakdown of grant funding allocated to and distributed by each local authority is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses.
This breakdown is updated on a weekly basis.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the financial effect of the outbreak of covid-19 on businesses to date.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government is extremely well prepared for these types of outbreaks; we are taking all necessary precautions to protect the public, including engaging with industry and the business community to discuss their preparedness planning. We have been receiving regular information from our stakeholders and continue to work together to keep on top of the situation.
The Government is closely monitoring developments in relation to potential economic impacts on the UK economy, as well as individual businesses and supply chains. For individual businesses, the first port of call for advice and support should still be gov.uk and the Department is scaling up its Business Support Helpline so businesses of all sizes can pick up the phone for guidance.
The Department is also working with Her Majesty’s Treasury to actively look at ways to support businesses, especially small-and medium-sized businesses, through this temporary period of disruption.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps his Department has taken to help businesses create highly skilled jobs in London.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Through the Government’s Growth Deals for 2015 to 2021, we have awarded the London Economic Action Partnership (LEAP) £435.28 million to support large-scale local growth programmes across London.
LEAP brings entrepreneurs, businesses, the Mayoralty, and London Councils together to strategically support job creation in the capital. LEAP’s capital investment programme for further education providers in London will ensure facilities are available to support first-class training that meets employers’ needs.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many business start-ups there were in (a) Bexley, (b) London and (c) England in each year since 2010.
Answered by Paul Scully
The table below provides ONS data on new business registrations for VAT and/or PAYE (ONS Business Demography 2018 – Enterprise births, deaths and survivals).
To Note: Data is not available for periods earlier than 2013 or later than 2018.
Region | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
Bexley | 1,340 | 1,455 | 1,605 | 1,640 | 1,410 | 1,300 |
London | 83,600 | 88,580 | 100,920 | 102,135 | 92,300 | 97,300 |
England | 308,565 | 312,920 | 344,065 | 373,580 | 339,345 | 340,045 |
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps her Department is taking to support small business growth in (a) Bexley Borough, (b) London and (c) the UK.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
We want to make sure that the UK is the best place in the world to work and grow a business. That’s why we are backing businesses right across the country, with 381,000 new businesses starting last year, and the government-owned British Business Bank currently supports more than £7bn to over 91,000 smaller businesses.
The British Business Bank’s Start-Up Loans programme provides loans to entrepreneurs seeking to start and grow their own businesses. Since 2012 the programme has delivered more than 69,000 Start-Up Loans, providing more than £558m of funding, in every part of the United Kingdom. Since 2012:
In addition to its lending and investment activity, the British Business Bank’s online Finance Hub helps business owners to find the right finance options for their needs.
Government has also taken a number of steps in recent years to support the growth of small businesses across the UK, including cutting corporation tax to 19 per cent and increasing the employment allowance from £2,000 to £3,000 to benefit around 1m businesses. Reforms and reliefs to business rates, since Budget 2016, are worth £13 billion over the next five years.
All businesses in England including your constituency and London, can access support through our Gov.uk website, the Business Support Helpline (0300 456 3565) and through their Local Growth Hubs.
As well as an online support, London has recently opened five main physical sites (that will be staffed) in Vauxhall, Woolwich, Tottenham, Hammersmith and Corydon, and 4 satellite sites (to ensure a wide coverage of the sub regions) in Harrow, Wood Green, Brixton and Ilford to deliver surgeries and workshops. These are led and governed by London’s Local Enterprise Partnership, LEAP. Growth Hubs provide a free, impartial, ‘single point of contact’ to help businesses in these areas identify and access the right support for them at the right time no matter their size or sector. In 2018-2019 the London Growth Hub supported 4,651 businesses.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that small businesses are prepared for the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Department is maintaining efforts to ensure businesses are ready to leave the EU on 31 October. We engage widely with businesses of all sizes, and as part of the refreshed communications campaign and engagement strategy which the Government has launched, BEIS is pursuing a range of actions to promote awareness and understanding of what businesses, including SMEs, need to do to get ready.
These include the publication of an SME Brexit guidance leaflet and the launch of our Get Ready Roadshows. These specifically target SMEs with information and advice but also ensure intermediaries, such as banks and accountants, have the information needed to support businesses.
Our plans also include advertising aimed at specific sectors using social and digital channels, as well as advertising in publications such as Auto Express setting out the steps businesses should take to get ready for Brexit.
We recently unveiled a £10 million Business Readiness Fund for business organisations and trade associations to support businesses, including SMEs, prepare for EU exit. These funds will support businesses across the UK in understanding the steps they should take to be ready for 31 October.
Through the British Business Bank (BBB) we are putting in place measures to support SMEs through cashflow challenges. Following a Business Finance Roundtable on 5 September, a new Business Finance Council has been established to support SMEs prepare for EU exit and help them secure working capital should they face difficulties in an economic downturn.