Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the reasons are for the reduction in the proportion of his Department's budget spent with small and medium-sized enterprises between 2013 and 2015.

It is an established convention that Ministers of one Administration cannot see the documents of a previous Administration. I am therefore unable to provide the information requested by the hon Member.

However, the Department continues to improve its data collection so that the full extent of indirect spending with SMEs is captured, working closely with the Crown Commercial Service and prime contractors. The Department actively explores the possibility of contracting directly with SMEs throughout its procurement processes whilst adhering to the relevant public procurement regulations.