Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to implement regulation that increases risk appetite amongst investors.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government wants to see more people benefit from the higher returns and long-term financial resilience that investing can provide. That is why the Chancellor’s Leeds Reforms included bold actions to boost retail investment.
In particular, the Treasury is working closely with the FCA to roll out a system of targeted support in time for ISA season next year. This represents the biggest reform of the financial advice and guidance landscape in more than a decade, and will be a step change in the support available to consumers.
The Government will also move Long-Term Asset Funds (LTAFs) from the Innovative Finance ISA to the Stocks & Shares ISA from April 2026. This will give more access to the higher returns available from less liquid assets, while directing investment into productive assets that will drive economic growth.
In addition, the Government welcomes the industry-led initiatives to promote the benefits of investing to the public, and to reform how firms talk about the risks and benefits of investing.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of tax incentives on levels of investment in small and mid-sized quoted companies.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to making the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business, and understands how important it is for businesses to be able to access the finance they need to grow and develop.
That is why the Government provides three tax-advantaged venture capital schemes: the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs). The schemes provide a range of tax reliefs for investors, to encourage investment in small- and medium-sized companies at the pre-listing stage, which face the biggest challenges in accessing growth capital.
The Stamp Taxes on Shares framework also contains multiples reliefs and exemptions which are designed to boost liquidity and growth, particularly for small and medium-sized companies, such as the Growth Market Exemption.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the UK remains an (a) attractive investment environment and (b) listing venue for small and mid-sized quoted companies.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government has delivered an ambitious programme of reforms to boost the competitiveness of UK markets, including for small and mid-sized quoted companies. This includes overhauling the Prospectus regime and Listing Rules, providing more flexibility to firms and founders raising capital on UK markets and reducing reporting requirements for the smallest companies.
At Mansion House 2025, the government published its Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, setting out our ten-year plan for the UK to be the world’s centre of choice for financial services investment now and in 2035, with capital markets a core pillar of the strategy.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to help improve (a) public and (b) investor confidence in small and mid-sized quoted companies listed in the UK.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government has delivered an ambitious programme of reforms to boost the competitiveness of UK markets, including for small and mid-sized quoted companies. This includes overhauling the Prospectus regime and Listing Rules, providing more flexibility to firms and founders raising capital on UK markets and reducing reporting requirements for the smallest companies.
At Mansion House 2025, the government published its Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, setting out our ten-year plan for the UK to be the world’s centre of choice for financial services investment now and in 2035, with capital markets a core pillar of the strategy.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans her Department has to improve access to finance for small and mid-sized quoted companies.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government has delivered an ambitious programme of reforms to boost the competitiveness of UK markets, including for small and mid-sized quoted companies. This includes overhauling the Prospectus regime and Listing Rules, providing more flexibility to firms and founders raising capital on UK markets and reducing reporting requirements for the smallest companies.
At Mansion House 2025, the government published its Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, setting out our ten-year plan for the UK to be the world’s centre of choice for financial services investment now and in 2035, with capital markets a core pillar of the strategy.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the British Business Bank's publication Small Business Equity Tracker 2024, if she will make a comparative assessment of (a) venture capital investment in the life sciences in the UK and the US and (b) the implications for companies in each jurisdiction seeking to scale-up.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The UK remains Europe’s leading destination for life sciences venture capital (VC) investment, according to the British Business Bank’s Small Business Equity Tracker 2024.
The US market is larger in scale, supporting late-stage growth with deeper capital pools and larger fund sizes. While the UK VC market is competitive with the US at the seed stage, UK companies face a widening funding gap as they scale.
At the recent Spending Review, the Government increased the British Business Bank’s financial capacity to £25.6 billion, a two-thirds increase in investment activity. Alongside reforms to give the British Business Bank greater flexibility to deploy funding responsively, this expanded capacity will enable more substantial support for SMEs and scale-ups, including life sciences companies, and move the UK market closer to the scale of late-stage financing seen in the US.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Spending Review 2025, published on 11 June 2025, how much and what proportion of the additional British Business Bank funding will be allocated to the life sciences sector.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
This Government is committed to ensuring high-potential life sciences businesses can access the finance they need to innovate, grow, and boost the UK economy.
As part of the Industrial Strategy, the British Business Bank will invest £4 billion across key sectors, including life sciences, supporting both the expansion of the Life Sciences Investment Programme and direct investment in R&D-intensive companies.
This funding is not hypothecated by sector, allowing the Bank to back the most promising opportunities, including through specialist fund managers.
The percentage of Bank supported deals in life sciences was 7.2%, compared to 4.9% for the overall equity market and 6.1% for the wider PE/VC market from 2022-2024.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that consumers are made aware that some forms of buy now, pay later will remain unregulated when BNPL regulation is in force.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Regulating the Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) sector is a government priority. On 19 May, the government introduced legislation to bring BNPL products into regulation. Our legislative approach will disapply the elements of the consumer credit regulatory regime that were originally designed for interest-bearing loans. This will enable the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to create a proportionate information disclosure regime tailored specifically to BNPL products.
At this stage, the government considers that BNPL agreements provided directly by merchants should remain exempt from regulation. Including merchant-provided BNPL in the regime would disproportionately impact small businesses offering low-risk agreements such as gym memberships and instalment plans for invoices.
Consumers using merchant-provided BNPL will remain protected by wider consumer protection laws, including strict rules on advertising and financial promotions; and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, which prohibit unfair commercial practices such as misleading consumers.
The government has not seen evidence that merchants are seeking to offer BNPL agreements on a scale similar to third-party lenders. However, my officials and I will continue to monitor the merchant-provided BNPL market closely, working with the FCA and industry. If we see clear evidence of significant market expansion or large-scale consumer harm, we will intervene swiftly to address these risks.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department plans to require merchants that might offer unregulated Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) once BNPL regulation is in force to provide clear information to consumers to make it clear that certain consumer protections will not apply to their credit agreements.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Regulating the Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) sector is a government priority. On 19 May, the government introduced legislation to bring BNPL products into regulation. Our legislative approach will disapply the elements of the consumer credit regulatory regime that were originally designed for interest-bearing loans. This will enable the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to create a proportionate information disclosure regime tailored specifically to BNPL products.
At this stage, the government considers that BNPL agreements provided directly by merchants should remain exempt from regulation. Including merchant-provided BNPL in the regime would disproportionately impact small businesses offering low-risk agreements such as gym memberships and instalment plans for invoices.
Consumers using merchant-provided BNPL will remain protected by wider consumer protection laws, including strict rules on advertising and financial promotions; and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, which prohibit unfair commercial practices such as misleading consumers.
The government has not seen evidence that merchants are seeking to offer BNPL agreements on a scale similar to third-party lenders. However, my officials and I will continue to monitor the merchant-provided BNPL market closely, working with the FCA and industry. If we see clear evidence of significant market expansion or large-scale consumer harm, we will intervene swiftly to address these risks.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Financial Conduct Authority is able to deliver final rules for Buy Now, Pay Later regulation that are proportionate to the product.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Regulating the Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) sector is a government priority. On 19 May, the government introduced legislation to bring BNPL products into regulation. Our legislative approach will disapply the elements of the consumer credit regulatory regime that were originally designed for interest-bearing loans. This will enable the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to create a proportionate information disclosure regime tailored specifically to BNPL products.
At this stage, the government considers that BNPL agreements provided directly by merchants should remain exempt from regulation. Including merchant-provided BNPL in the regime would disproportionately impact small businesses offering low-risk agreements such as gym memberships and instalment plans for invoices.
Consumers using merchant-provided BNPL will remain protected by wider consumer protection laws, including strict rules on advertising and financial promotions; and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, which prohibit unfair commercial practices such as misleading consumers.
The government has not seen evidence that merchants are seeking to offer BNPL agreements on a scale similar to third-party lenders. However, my officials and I will continue to monitor the merchant-provided BNPL market closely, working with the FCA and industry. If we see clear evidence of significant market expansion or large-scale consumer harm, we will intervene swiftly to address these risks.