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Written Question
Rural England Prosperity Fund
Monday 26th February 2024

Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to extend the funding period for the Rural England Prosperity Fund.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government is committed to helping rural businesses prosper. The Rural England Prosperity Fund is a rural top-up to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, providing allocations for eligible local authorities in England to help address the additional needs and challenges facing rural areas.

Overall, the fund will provide up to £110 million in funding to eligible local authorities between April 2023 and March 2025.

To date the fund is providing capital funding to support new and existing rural businesses to develop new products and facilities that will be of wider benefit to the local economy.

This includes small scale investment in micro and small enterprises in rural areas to create leisure and tourism facilities, the capital funding of net zero infrastructures for rural business, and the diversification of farm businesses outside of agriculture to encourage start up, expansion or scale up of these businesses where this involves converting farm buildings into other commercial or business uses.

The Government intends to monitor and evaluate the impact of the fund, with any decision on additional funding a matter for a future Spending Review.


Written Question
Recovery Loan Scheme
Thursday 15th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Johnson of Lainston on 1 February (HL1695), what assessment they have made of the impact of not renewing the Recovery Loan Scheme on small businesses in deprived areas who have received loans from Community Development Financial Institutions after being turned down for loans from high street banks.

Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Lenders are currently offering over £100 million of additional lending per month through the British Business Bank’s Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS), with 85 per cent of facilities going to small and micro businesses. RLS is particularly effective at serving alternative and social lenders, with more than three quarters of lending delivered through smaller lenders, including Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI). Since launch, RLS has enabled almost £50 million of CDFI lending: over 90% of the businesses which borrowed from CDFIs in 2023 had been turned down by another lender, and half were based in the UK’s most disadvantaged areas.


Written Question
Recovery Loan Scheme
Thursday 15th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Johnson of Lainston on 1 February (HL1695), what assessment they have made of the impact of not renewing the Recovery Loan Scheme on small businesses in deprived areas who have previously been turned down for loans by high street banks.

Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Lenders are currently offering over £100 million of additional lending per month through the British Business Bank’s Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS), with 85 per cent of facilities going to small and micro businesses. RLS is particularly effective at serving alternative and social lenders, with more than three quarters of lending delivered through smaller lenders, including Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI). Since launch, RLS has enabled almost £50 million of CDFI lending: over 90% of the businesses which borrowed from CDFIs in 2023 had been turned down by another lender, and half were based in the UK’s most disadvantaged areas.


Written Question
Living Wage: Meriden
Monday 23rd October 2023

Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the change in rate of the National Living wage in April 2023 on the financial viability of employers in (a) pharmacies and (b) other SMEs in Meriden constituency.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government published an Impact Assessment that outlines the expected impacts of the change in the National Living Wage in April 2023: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/354/impacts

Overall, research to-date has not found a significant impact of the National Living wage on business failures. On average, the average total cost per business affected by the policy was between £3,000 to £4,000. We expect around 40% of the costs of this policy to be borne by small and micro businesses and 15% by medium sized businesses.

The available data does not enable a statistically reliable assessment of costs of the policy by constituency.


Written Question
Allergies: Health Services
Monday 11th September 2023

Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to mitigate increases in the number of hospital admissions associated with (a) allergies and (b) anaphylaxis.

Answered by Will Quince

People with allergies continue to be supported through locally commissioned NHS services. For people with rare and complex allergic conditions, specialised allergy services are commissioned by NHS England in line with the published service specification.

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a range of guidance to support the care of people with allergies, including recommendations on what information and support should be provided to the child or young person and their families to help manage one’s condition and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions.

On 1 October 2021, Natasha’s Law made it a legal requirement for food operators to display allergen labelling on food items pre-packed for direct sale, protecting those with allergies and giving them more confidence in the food they buy.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is currently considering how to improve the provision of information for people with allergies and are researching different approaches for the provision of written and verbal information to improve the accuracy and communications of allergen information. The FSA has recently commissioned several pieces of research in this area. These will provide new evidence on the nature and extent of food hypersensitivity reactions, different international approaches to written information, and the business operating models of small and micro businesses in the non-prepacked sector. These reports will be published in due course and will be presented to the FSA Board to consider next steps.

In June 2023, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) published new guidance on the use adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs), highlighting the latest safety advice on the steps to take during anaphylaxis. The new guidance includes a step infographic guide and video outlining the latest advice from the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM’s) working group on the safe and effective use of AAIs. It includes an easy step-by-step guide on what to do in an emergency and provides updated advice on body positioning.


Written Question
Small Businesses
Tuesday 1st August 2023

Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises are taken into account in policymaking discussions and decisions.

Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Government provides extensive support to SMEs and places them at the heart of policy making. When developing policies, departments should consider whether micro, small and medium-sized businesses can be exempt from proposed regulations. To test that this is being done, the Better Regulation Framework requires a Small and Micro Business Assessment (SaMBA) in department’s impact assessments. The Department continues to engage with SMEs and representative organisations, for example through the SME Action Group chaired by Minister Hollinrake, to ensure business voices are heard, and to help create the right conditions for businesses to scale up both domestically and internationally.


Written Question
Food: Labelling
Wednesday 21st June 2023

Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government response to the petition entitled Owen's Law - Change the law around allergy labelling in UK restaurants, published on 14 July 2021, what recent progress the Food Standards Agency has made on assessing the proposal to introduce mandatory allergen labelling on restaurant menus.

Answered by Neil O'Brien

All food businesses are under a legal obligation to provide information on the presence of the 14 major allergens in food, including in the non-prepacked sector, such as in restaurants and cafes, so that people who have allergies and intolerances are able to make safe food choices. Current requirements state that for food items provided in restaurants, allergen information must be clearly signposted and can be provided in writing or verbally.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA), who has policy responsibility for food safety, is currently considering how to improve the provision of information for people with allergies and researching different approaches for the provision of written and verbal information to improve the accuracy and communications of allergen information. The FSA has recently commissioned several pieces of research in this area. These will provide new evidence on the nature and extent of food hypersensitivity reactions, different international approaches to written information, and the business operating models of small and micro businesses in the non-prepacked sector. These reports will be published in due course and will be presented to the FSA Board to consider next steps.

Additionally, the FSA has conducted a study visit to the Republic of Ireland to understand the practical implementation of their legislation mandating written allergen information and a workshop with key stakeholders. This evidence will be used to support careful consideration of any potential changes and to assess the impacts for both consumer safety and food businesses.


Written Question
Hospitality Industry: Business Rates and VAT
Monday 12th June 2023

Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level at which (a) business rates and (b) VAT are set for (i) micro businesses and (ii) small and medium sized enterprises in the hospitality sector.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The recent revaluation of business rates, which came into effect on 1 April 2023, ensures rateable values, and therefore bills, more accurately reflect current market values.

The Government has announced a package worth £13.6 billion over the next five years to support businesses with the revaluation. This includes an increased 75 per cent relief for retail, hospitality and leisure properties, up to a cash cap of £100,000 per business for 2023-2024. This is a tax cut worth over £2 billion for around 230,000 RHL businesses, to support the high street and protect small shops.

Regarding small and microbusinesses in particular, the Government has continued its generous Small Business Rate Relief scheme which means properties with a rateable value below £12,000 (over a third of properties, 720,000) pay no business rates at all, with an additional 76,000 in the taper, with a rateable value below £15,000, benefitting from reduced bills.

The Government recognises that accounting for VAT can be a burden on small businesses. This is why, at £85,000, the UK has a higher VAT registration threshold than any EU Member State and the second highest in the OECD. This keeps the majority of UK businesses out of VAT altogether (3.1 of 5.6 million). Of the 2.5 million businesses that are registered, 1.2 million exceed the threshold, and roughly 1.3 million are registered voluntarily.


Written Question
Small Businesses: Government Assistance
Wednesday 26th April 2023

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to provide fiscal support for (a) takeaways and (b) other small and micro businesses.

Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government has demonstrated its long-standing commitment to supporting small and micro businesses, entrepreneurs, and businesses on our high streets, including takeaways. At Spring Budget, we confirmed that, from April 2023, the Small Profits Rate will mean 70% of businesses will see no increase in Corporation Tax this April. In fact, the UK has the lowest corporation tax rate in the G7.

In addition, the UK also has a higher VAT registration threshold than any EU member state and second highest in the OECD – which keeps the majority of UK businesses out of VAT altogether. We have also put in place a generous package of Business Rates relief worth £13.6 billion.

The Government continues to invest in the 38 Growth Hubs providing businesses across England with free one-to-one support and advice. Growth Hubs offer a triage, diagnostic and signposting service to make sure that all businesses, whatever their size or sector, know what help is available and can access the most appropriate support.


Written Question
Business Rates and VAT
Tuesday 28th March 2023

Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of business rates and VAT for (a) micro businesses and (b) SMEs.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

On business rates, the Government has announced a package of support worth £13.6 billion for businesses over the next five years. Together with the revaluation, this package ensures bills will more accurately reflect current market values whilst protecting businesses from large bill increases.

The Government's generous Small Business Rate Relief scheme sees over a third of properties (720,000) pay no business rates at all, with an additional 76,000 in the taper seeing their bills reduced. Combined with an updated Retail, Hospitality & Leisure (RHL) relief, 80% of RHL properties will see bills fall or stay the same at the 2023 Revaluation, protecting the UK's high street businesses.

The Government is also providing over £500 million of support over the next three years with a new Supporting Small Business scheme. This will cap bill increases to £50 per month (£600 per year) for businesses losing some or all of their Small Business or Rural Rate Relief due to the revaluation.

The Government recognises that accounting for VAT can be a burden on businesses. This is why, at £85,000, the UK has a higher VAT registration threshold than any EU Member State and the second highest in the OECD. This keeps the majority of UK businesses out of VAT altogether.

Although the Government keeps all taxes under review, there are no current plans to change the levels of VAT.