Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made on each of the six actions outlined in his Department's report, Ethnic Minority Businesses and Access to Finance, published in June 2013; what external meetings Ministers have had to discuss (a) those actions and (b) the issues raised in the report in each month since the report; and if he will make a statement.

The Ethnic Minority Business and Access to Finance review has raised awareness and encouraged engagement between the banking community and ethnic minority businesses. The report was published in July 2013 with a plan for action.

The actions were addressed primarily at the industry, British Bankers' Association and others including Local Enterprise Partnerships, supported by Government. Progress against the actions is set out below.

Action 1: Spreading the Word

The banking community continues to work with accountants, business groups and specialist business networks through the Enterprise Diversity Alliance and other forums such as the National Black Women's Network and the Yorkshire Asian Business Association, to raise awareness of the range of support available. This has included developing finance guides, refreshing the Better Business Finance website to make it more friendly, and running a national campaign aimed at all SMEs to inform them of the support available, including the appeals process if rejected for finance.

These details have been made available to ethnic minority businesses through key regional events, newsletters, and the various partners and networks that sit on the British Bankers' Association Diversity and Inclusion Business Council launched in 2014. The Authority also sits on the advisory group of the Enterprise Diversity Alliance, with a number of banks who also run specific Enterprise Diversity Alliance business support and finance work-streams.

Action 2: Making support easier to access

The British Bankers' Association, with banks, has run a series of mentoring workshops and because of these, and follow up bank support, some ethnic minority businesses have created their own mentoring networks and many of these businesses have taken up mentoring support. Events are held in areas with a high concentration of ethnic minority businesses notably Leicester, London, Wolverhampton and Birmingham, to raise awareness, understanding and build confidence in accessing finance.

Specialist mentoring is offered to ethnic minority businesses through mentoring organisations such as Business in the Community, Capital Enterprises and SCA Management Consulting Ltd. If a mentee wishes to specify a particular ethnicity for their mentor they can do so at the matching stage.

Action 3: Promote the alternatives

The Government is legislating through the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill to require large banks to refer declined small business finance applications to online platforms, who will seek to match businesses seeking finance to alternative lenders. Community Development Finance Institutions will be able to access these platforms alongside a range of other lenders, including challenger banks and peer-to-peer lenders. This proposal will help put small businesses seeking finance in touch with lenders who may be able to help them.

Action 4: Use Local Enterprise Partnerships to best advantage

Local Enterprise Partnerships have been established as voluntary partnerships and are encouraged by Government to ensure that their boards are representative of the businesses in their locality, and are not dominated by a single group or organisation.

Action 5: Expanding our understanding

The 2013 Ethnic Minority Business report http://www.sme-finance-monitor.co.uk/ was published earlier this year. The 2014 report is due to be published in January 2015. This work, coupled with that of the bank and BIS supported Enterprise Research Centre, is being used by the British Bankers' Association's Diversity and Inclusion Business Council to determine policy actions to take forward.

Action 6: Supporting the dialogue

The Ethnic Moinority Business representation at the Business Finance Roundtable is through Professor Monder Ram of Birmingham University who runs the Enterprise Diversity Alliance, co-leads the Enterprise Research Centre diversity work and is a member of DWP's Ethnic Minority Employment Stakeholder Group. Alongside this sits the British Bankers' Association Diversity and Inclusion Business Council launched in 2014 which includes the leading Ethnic Minority Business experts and networks.

As actions have been progressing since 2013, no further Ministerial meetings have taken place.