Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 effectiveness of Government-funded business development support in the co-operative and mutual sectors.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade committed to launch a Call for Evidence on co-operative and mutual business. The Call for Evidence will focus on how the government can continue to support co-operative and mutual businesses, to start, grow and scale, as well as support for existing businesses who want to transition to become a co-operative or mutual.
As part of this, we will be collecting data on existing business support for co-operatives and mutuals, including, but not limited to government funded support.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 help support the growth of the co-operative sector.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade committed to launch a Call for Evidence on co-operative and mutual business. The Call for Evidence will focus on how the government can continue to support co-operative and mutual businesses, to start, grow and scale, as well as support for existing businesses who want to transition to become a co-operative or mutual.
DBT is also looking at how to integrate support for co-operatives and mutuals within the government’s overall approach for supporting SMEs, including what we can do via the Business Growth Service, and through DBT funded Growth Hubs (England only) which aim to support local businesses, including co-operative and mutuals.