Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to expand (a) financial support and (b) tax relief for small and medium-sized manufacturing firms.

Small businesses are vital to high streets, local communities, and economic growth. At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government recognised this by:

• More than doubling the Employment Allowance to £10,500;
• Maintaining the Small Profits Rate and marginal relief at their current rates and thresholds, as well as maintaining the £1 million Annual Investment Allowance; and
• Freezing the small business multiplier for 2025/26. Taken together with Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR), over a million properties will be protected from inflationary bill increases.

Despite the difficult fiscal inheritance, we have also been able to protect key business support programmes like Growth Hubs, while allocating £250 million to the British Business Bank's small business programmes in 2025/26.