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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2021 to Question 68262 on Future Fund, what assessment he has made of the regional differences in the (a) per head value of funding from the Future Fund and (b) proportion of companies which had their loans converted into an equity stake; and if he will make a statement.

The distribution of convertible loans made by the Future Fund broadly follows the pattern of equity investment across the UK. The British Business Bank’s 2020/21 Small Business Finance Markets report showed that companies outside London received 44% of equity investment by value in 2020. In the case of the Future Fund, 41% of loans by value were advanced to companies based outside London. As a rules-based scheme, the Future Fund was not set up to address disparities in equity finance across regions. All valid applications were approved, regardless of the location of the company.

Of the 158 companies converted as of 31 August 2021, 68 (43%) were based outside London. No reliable conclusions can be drawn from the small number of conversions that have taken place so far.