Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the level of annual reporting for small companies.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department is reviewing non-financial reporting requirements to simplify, streamline and reduce reporting obligations for all companies. These reforms aim to reduce administrative burdens on business, particularly for small companies. The review has already delivered legislation which increased the monetary size thresholds for micro, small, medium and large companies, as well as removing low value and duplicative reporting from the Directors’ and Director’s Remuneration Reports. A consultation on future reforms to modernise corporate reporting will be published in due course.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to review the requirement for small businesses to file profits and losses with Companies House.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade is currently engaging with stakeholders on proposed changes in filing requirements at Companies House, to ensure they strike the right balance between tackling economic crime and avoiding undue burden on business. As part of this we are considering stakeholder views on the requirement for small and micro entities to file profit and loss accounts. We will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking with the Food Standards Agency to help increase levels of public awareness of dangerous food product recalls.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Food recalls and allergy alerts often receive a high level of engagement depending on the scale and risk associated with each recall. It is the responsibility of businesses to reach the public through displaying in-store notices and notifying consumers through their own communication channels. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) amplifies recalls to reach a wider audience and those most vulnerable.
The FSA works with national and regional media outlets, and shares recall information across its social media channels. This strategy achieves regular national coverage, plus targeted regional coverage. Targeted advertising campaigns on social media encourage the public to sign up for the food alerts and recalls service. Promoting the alerts and recall service is a key objective of our current business campaign. Safer food means better business, which aims to support small and micro businesses in protecting their customers.
Targeted partnerships with healthcare providers, charities and organisations that represent vulnerable consumers facilitate direct access to those who are most at risk to food borne diseases. This includes immunocompromised groups or those living with an allergy.
The FSA carried out a key review of the recall process in 2017 with the strengthened processes in place by 2019, and an evaluation of improvements carried out in 2022. At the heart of this work is making sure that as much as possible the system works smoothly across all those involved so that consumers are aware when unsafe foods are recalled.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure that SMEs (a) are not misled by banks (b) are not unfairly charged and (c) can access the financial services they need.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government recognises the vital role that financial services play in supporting millions of SMEs across the UK. We are committed to ensuring that SMEs are treated fairly by banks and have access to the financial services they need.
The provision of business banking services is largely a commercial matter, but there are certain regulatory and statutory protections afforded to SMEs. Notably, Consumer Credit Act protections apply to certain small businesses (sole traders, unincorporated bodies and two or three person partnerships). The FCA is able to investigate issues where this falls within their regulatory remit and the application of the Consumer Duty to micro-enterprises.
In addition, the Financial Ombudsman Service has jurisdiction over 99% of business banking disputes, providing a wide safety-net for businesses and an important avenue for redress if SMEs feel they have been misled, unfairly charged or mistreated.
Earlier this year, the Government also legislated to strengthen customer protection standards in cases where banks and other payment service providers close accounts or terminate services. As a result, under the new requirements, both personal and business customers will be given more notice of closures and will be entitled to a sufficient explanation for their provider’s actions.
More widely, the Government is committed to encouraging competition in financial services to help stimulate a strong and diverse market for SMEs and improve access to finance. While we continue to monitor issues relating to accessing financial services, service provision and charging models remain commercial matters for individual firms.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the requirement in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 that micro-entities publicly file their profit and loss accounts on small businesses.
Answered by Justin Madders
The Department is currently engaging with stakeholders on proposed changes in filing requirements at Companies House, to ensure they strike the right balance between tackling economic crime and avoiding undue burden on business. In 2022, the department estimated that proposed changes to the small accounts regime, which included among other policies the requirement for small and micro-entities to file profit and loss accounts, would result in one-off familiarisation costs to business of £3.2 million in the first year, or £0.4m annual net direct costs to business over 10 years. Recurrent costs from profit and loss account filing were estimated to be negligible.
Asked by: Katie White (Labour - Leeds North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help protect businesses facing (a) scams and (b) fraudulent activity.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
We remain absolutely committed to protecting all of society from the threat of fraud, including businesses. The Home Office is currently developing a new fraud strategy which will include additional measures to protect businesses and educate them on the threat of fraud.
Fraud against business frequently starts with a cyber-attack. The Government also supports the network of cyber resilience centres which provide guidance to businesses to help them protect themselves against cyber threats. There are 10 centres in England and Wales with a particular focus on sole traders, micro companies and small companies.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 58921 on Innovate UK: Northern Ireland, how Innovate UK’s regional support advisors in Northern Ireland promote the availability of Innovation Funding Services in Northern Ireland to small firms that previously had no contact with Innovate UK.
Answered by Feryal Clark
Innovate UK actively promotes its products and services to Northern Ireland businesses to improve their access to innovation funding and resources and foster growth within the region’s innovation ecosystem. It does this through a variety of channels. These include Innovate Local events, joint webinars with Invest NI, and participation in Enterprise NI’s finance series. Innovate UK competitions are also promoted on nibusinessinfo.co.uk by Invest NI. The programmes they promote are an important source of support for businesses in Northern Ireland. For example, Innovate UK Business Growth has supported 339 businesses over three years, while the ‘New Innovators’ funding program, which is only available to businesses without prior Innovate UK engagement, has provided £1 million to 23 small and micro businesses since 2020.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department provides to help small and micro food businesses to (a) understand and (b) comply with food hygiene certification requirements.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has developed and published many materials on the FSA website to support businesses to meet the requirements set out in food hygiene legislation. The website is available at the following link:
We know that small and micro businesses can face additional challenges when trying to access and understand legal requirements, so there are several free tools which have been designed to guide small and micro businesses including Safer Food Better Business (SFBB), as well as Safe Catering Guidance for Northern Ireland.
The practical and easy-to-use packs will help small businesses to:
- comply with food hygiene regulations;
- show what they need do to make and store food safely including how to clean effectively;
- train staff and support them to use good hygiene practices;
- protect business's reputation; and
- improve food hygiene rating scores.
There are also additional supplementary packs for SFBB available to support sectors such as childminders, residential care homes, retailers, and businesses serving Indian and Chinese cuisines.
In addition, the FSA website has a dedicated Business Guidance section which provides information such as how to start a food business safely, starting a food business from home and selling food for delivery. It hosts free online food safety courses on allergen management and root cause analysis.
The FSA regularly runs campaigns across various social media platforms to inform food businesses of the available materials to support their compliance with hygiene requirements.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of provisions in the Employment Rights Bill on (a) statutory sick pay and (b) dismissal procedures on small businesses.
Answered by Justin Madders
The Government has published a robust set of Impact Assessments on all aspects of the Employment Rights Bill, available here: Employment Rights Bill: impact assessments - GOV.UK. These include assessments on the impacts to small and micro businesses in line with the Better Regulation Framework.
New dismissal procedures and statutory sick pay measures will apply to all businesses regardless of size. Whilst it is recognised that smaller businesses could potentially face disproportionate challenges due to their limited resources, the broader societal benefits of increased job security, productivity and fairness in the labour market justify the policies scope.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increased operating costs on the (a) employment retention and (b) pay levels of small businesses.
Answered by Justin Madders
The Government recognises the need to protect the smallest employers.
The Government has doubled the Employment Allowance, meaning that more than half of businesses with NIC liabilities will either gain or will see no change this year. As well as this, a Business Growth Service will make it easier for businesses across the UK to get the advice they need.
The National Minimum Wage increases that came into effect on the 1st April 2025 follow the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission. To inform its recommendations, the Low Pay Commission considered the impact on business, competitiveness and the labour market, and undertook extensive research and stakeholder engagement. The Government’s Impact Assessment1, includes a detailed assessment of the impact of the rates on small and micro businesses, including the increase in pay levels and possible wider impacts on competitiveness and employment.
1The National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2025 - Impact Assessment