Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to finance for pubs in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Government recognises the significant pressures facing pubs, including those in Surrey Heath, and the Government is providing support through various measures to help ease these pressures.

We are supporting pubs by expanding Start-up Loans to offer 69,000 new businesses the chance of finance and mentoring, boosting access to finance by committing to the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme for the longer term, and expanding the capacity of the ENABLE programme by £3 billion to £5 billion helping lenders unlock more finance options for small businesses.

We are also offering £340m to help boost the availability of early-stage equity finance for innovative businesses across the UK, and working with private lenders on the appropriate use of Personal Guarantees, including a mandatory Code of Conduct for loans issued under the Growth Guarantee Scheme, to ensure their use is fair and transparent.