Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that small and medium businesses in Northern Ireland are able to access immediate financial support to help meet rising costs in the absence of the Northern Ireland Executive.

We recognise the challenge that businesses are facing from rising costs across the UK, including those in Northern Ireland.

We’re acting fast to provide vital support to businesses and provide the certainty they need to plan for the challenges ahead this Winter.

On Wednesday, we announced details of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme to protect businesses from the spiralling costs of energy by providing a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices over the next six months.

- A parallel scheme, based on the same criteria and providing comparable support, but recognising the different market fundamentals, will be established in Northern Ireland

Further support is available to businesses in Northern Ireland through the Recovery Loan Scheme, a vital scheme offering government-backed loans to small businesses.

- The scheme has already supported more than 300 businesses in Northern Ireland and we recently extended it for another two years.

This builds on the support we have made available to ensure small businesses can access the finance they need throughout the UK.

- At the last Spending Review the government provided over £1.6bn additional funding to the British Business Bank to set up new national and regional funds, including £70m specifically earmarked for Northern Ireland.