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1177383

	registered interest
	date	10/02/2020
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Small Business Commissioner: Powers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions she has had with the Interim Small Business Commissioner on giving the future, permanent post holder, powers of binding arbitration to ensure prompt payment for small businesses.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	14683
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2020 answer text <p>The Government is completely focussed on fulfilling our manifesto commitment to clamp down on late payment and strengthen the powers of the Small Business Commissioner (SBC) to support small businesses that are exploited by their larger partners.</p><p> </p><p>Good progress is being made on the policies I announced in our Government Response to the 2018 Call for Evidence to assess what further steps and intervention may be needed to create a responsible payment culture, which included:</p><p> </p><ul><li>consulting on the merits of strengthening the Commissioner’s existing powers, to assist and advocate for small businesses in the area of late payments; and</li><li>strengthening and reforming the Prompt Payment Code and moving its administration to the Office of the SBC.</li></ul><p> </p><p>BEIS Officials work closely, and meet regularly, with the Interim Commissioner and his team and share any relevant policy developments, as set out in the Small Business Commissioner Framework Document.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst grouped question UIN 14684 question first answered 13/02/2020 17:17:41 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1177384

	registered interest
	date	10/02/2020
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Small Business Commissioner: Powers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps her Department is taking to strengthen the powers of the small business commissioner in order to improve support for small businesses dealing with late payment issues.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	14684
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2020 answer text <p>The Government is completely focussed on fulfilling our manifesto commitment to clamp down on late payment and strengthen the powers of the Small Business Commissioner (SBC) to support small businesses that are exploited by their larger partners.</p><p> </p><p>Good progress is being made on the policies I announced in our Government Response to the 2018 Call for Evidence to assess what further steps and intervention may be needed to create a responsible payment culture, which included:</p><p> </p><ul><li>consulting on the merits of strengthening the Commissioner’s existing powers, to assist and advocate for small businesses in the area of late payments; and</li><li>strengthening and reforming the Prompt Payment Code and moving its administration to the Office of the SBC.</li></ul><p> </p><p>BEIS Officials work closely, and meet regularly, with the Interim Commissioner and his team and share any relevant policy developments, as set out in the Small Business Commissioner Framework Document.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst grouped question UIN 14683 question first answered 13/02/2020 17:17:41 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1156419

	registered interest
	date	25/10/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Business: Disadvantaged
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps she has taken to support the development of businesses in deprived communities.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	5432
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2019 answer text <p>Across the UK, the Government-backed British Business Bank (the Bank) seeks to increase the supply of finance for smaller businesses and to reduce regional disparities in access to finance. The Bank’s programmes are currently supporting over £6.6 billion of finance to over 89,000 SMEs (as at June 2019). And through the Bank's Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) there is currently approximately £300mn of headroom available to lenders this financial year. There is also approximately £1bn of guarantee headroom currently available to lenders under the Bank's ENABLE Guarantee programme.</p><p>Government has also supported and invested in the creation of a network of 38 Growth Hubs in England – one in each Local Enterprise Partnership area) – to provide a free, impartial, single point of local contact to all businesses, no matter their size or sector, to access advice and support across the public and private sector: in 2018-2019 Growth Hubs in England supported over 121,500 businesses. At the end of FY18/19, Government had invested £56.4 million in Growth Hubs that helped over 9,500 individuals start a business achieving an average customer satisfaction rate of 81.45%.</p><p>Businesses in England can also access business support through GOV.UK, and the National Business Support Helpline.</p><p>Since Budget 2016, the Government has announced reductions to business rates worth more than £13 billion until 2021.</p><p>My rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister has announced a £3.6 billion Towns Fund, including £1 billion for an accelerated Future High Streets Fund. Last year the Government also made a number of announcements to support High Street businesses:</p><ul><li>cutting the business rates bills of retailers by one third until April 2021 for properties with a rateable value below £51,000;</li><li>potential for up to 90% of retail properties in England to be eligible for the retail discount, worth almost £900m to businesses over two years; and</li><li>potential for retail discount to help a retailer save up to £8,000 off their 2019-20 bill.</li></ul><p> </p><p>At Autumn Budget 2018, HM Treasury announced that the VAT threshold will be maintained at the current level of £85,000 until April 2022. The VAT threshold is the highest in the EU and the OECD. It keeps an estimated over 3.55 million small businesses out of VAT.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 05/11/2019 14:19:47 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst previous answer version 2862 answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1156420

	registered interest
	date	25/10/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Social Enterprises
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the findings of the global perception poll conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the UK has fallen from third to 13th place since 2016 in the list of the best places to be a social entrepreneur.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	5433
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government welcomes the contribution which social enterprises make to local growth and prosperity in our communities up and down the country. The UK’s company law framework allows for a variety of business forms, in part to suit those adopting social or environmental purposes, and we will continue to look at what more can be done to support social entrepreneurship in the UK.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 31/10/2019 08:22:03 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst previous answer version 2867 answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1156198

	registered interest
	date	24/10/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	New Businesses: Government Assistance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she has taken to support (a) women and (b) people from ethnic minorities that want to set up businesses.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	5002
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2019 answer text <p>The UK is one of the best places in the world to start and grow a business. Government is committed to supporting all entrepreneurs, whatever their background, to have the opportunity to make their business ideas a reality.</p><p>We provide support to all entrepreneurs to set up businesses through our online services on GOV.UK, the Business Support Helpline, and the network of 38 local Growth Hubs across England. In 2018, 47% of the Business Support Helpline’s callers were women.</p><p>We have been working closely with HM Treasury and industry to implement the eight initiatives from the Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, to tackle the barriers faced by women when starting and scaling a business. We have set an ambition to increase the number of female entrepreneurs by half by 2030 – equivalent to an additional 600,000 female entrepreneurs.</p><p>The British Business Bank’s Start-Up Loans Programme provides funding and intensive support to new entrepreneurs, and has delivered over 67,000 loans, worth over £534m since it began in 2012 (as at end-September 2019). 40% of Start Up Loans have gone to women – worth over £198m. 20% of Start Up Loans have gone to BAME entrepreneurs – worth over £100m.</p><p>BEIS has also launched an independent review into Young Entrepreneurship, led by the Prince’s Trust, that seeks to better understand young entrepreneurs, including young female and ethnic minority entrepreneurs, the specific barriers and opportunities they face – such as access to finance, and networks - and what more can be done to support them to start and grow a business.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 30/10/2019 16:32:03 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst previous answer version 2600 answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1156199

	registered interest
	date	24/10/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Civil Society
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she has taken to promote (a) social enterprise and (b) other alternative forms of business.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	5003
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government welcomes the contribution which social enterprises make to local growth and prosperity in our communities up and down the country. The UK’s company law framework allows for a variety of business forms, in part to suit those adopting social or environmental purposes.</p><p> </p><p>We welcome the growth of purposeful businesses and have taken steps to encourage and enable this trend. The Government encouraged the business-led development of ‘Purposely’, a tool to help social entrepreneurs embed purpose into their businesses using the flexibility provided in the Companies Act; it also established the Inclusive Economy Partnership to harness the power of business as a force for good in our society; and it has supported the new Impact Investing Institute to grow social investment.</p><p> </p><p>Community Interest Companies (CICs) are a huge success story. They are delivering benefits to more and more of our communities right across the UK. CICs have grown exponentially since 2005. There are now over 17,000 now on the public register. They are promoted by the Regulator of Community Interest Companies, which is an independent statutory office holder appointed by my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State.</p><p> </p><p>The UK’s corporate governance framework has been updated to promote purpose in businesses. The UK’s Corporate Governance Code was revised, with effect from 1 January 2019, to promote the importance of having a clear corporate purpose. The Governance Principles for Large Private Companies developed last year by Sir James Wates do the same. Company reporting requirements, also introduced this year, now require companies to report how they have regard to wider societal interests within the meaning of Section 172 of the Companies Act.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst grouped question UIN 5004 5005 question first answered 30/10/2019 16:53:08 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst previous answer version 2601 answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1156201

	registered interest
	date	24/10/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Community Interest Companies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she has taken to promote community interest companies as a form of business.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	5004
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government welcomes the contribution which social enterprises make to local growth and prosperity in our communities up and down the country. The UK’s company law framework allows for a variety of business forms, in part to suit those adopting social or environmental purposes.</p><p> </p><p>We welcome the growth of purposeful businesses and have taken steps to encourage and enable this trend. The Government encouraged the business-led development of ‘Purposely’, a tool to help social entrepreneurs embed purpose into their businesses using the flexibility provided in the Companies Act; it also established the Inclusive Economy Partnership to harness the power of business as a force for good in our society; and it has supported the new Impact Investing Institute to grow social investment.</p><p> </p><p>Community Interest Companies (CICs) are a huge success story. They are delivering benefits to more and more of our communities right across the UK. CICs have grown exponentially since 2005. There are now over 17,000 now on the public register. They are promoted by the Regulator of Community Interest Companies, which is an independent statutory office holder appointed by my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State.</p><p> </p><p>The UK’s corporate governance framework has been updated to promote purpose in businesses. The UK’s Corporate Governance Code was revised, with effect from 1 January 2019, to promote the importance of having a clear corporate purpose. The Governance Principles for Large Private Companies developed last year by Sir James Wates do the same. Company reporting requirements, also introduced this year, now require companies to report how they have regard to wider societal interests within the meaning of Section 172 of the Companies Act.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst grouped question UIN 5003 5005 question first answered 30/10/2019 16:53:08 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst previous answer version 2602 answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1156204

	registered interest
	date	24/10/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	New Businesses
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she has taken to encourage people setting up businesses to embed (a) social and (b) environmental purpose into their business structures.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	5005
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government welcomes the contribution which social enterprises make to local growth and prosperity in our communities up and down the country. The UK’s company law framework allows for a variety of business forms, in part to suit those adopting social or environmental purposes.</p><p> </p><p>We welcome the growth of purposeful businesses and have taken steps to encourage and enable this trend. The Government encouraged the business-led development of ‘Purposely’, a tool to help social entrepreneurs embed purpose into their businesses using the flexibility provided in the Companies Act; it also established the Inclusive Economy Partnership to harness the power of business as a force for good in our society; and it has supported the new Impact Investing Institute to grow social investment.</p><p> </p><p>Community Interest Companies (CICs) are a huge success story. They are delivering benefits to more and more of our communities right across the UK. CICs have grown exponentially since 2005. There are now over 17,000 now on the public register. They are promoted by the Regulator of Community Interest Companies, which is an independent statutory office holder appointed by my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State.</p><p> </p><p>The UK’s corporate governance framework has been updated to promote purpose in businesses. The UK’s Corporate Governance Code was revised, with effect from 1 January 2019, to promote the importance of having a clear corporate purpose. The Governance Principles for Large Private Companies developed last year by Sir James Wates do the same. Company reporting requirements, also introduced this year, now require companies to report how they have regard to wider societal interests within the meaning of Section 172 of the Companies Act.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst grouped question UIN 5003 5004 question first answered 30/10/2019 16:53:08 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst previous answer version 2603 answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1121528

	registered interest
	date	11/04/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Government Assistance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the House Of Lords Secondary Legislation Committee report page 13 on Draft State Aid (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, paragraph 47, if he will publish the response of the Local Government Association; and if he will (a) confirm whether the meeting between the LGA and the CMA took place and (b) publish minutes of that meeting.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	244063
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2019 answer text <p>The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has met with the Local Government Association (LGA) to discuss the future operation of the state aid regime by the CMA. The minutes of this meeting were prepared by the CMA, and the CMA does not routinely publish the minutes of its meetings.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 24/04/2019 15:29:58 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1121532

	registered interest
	date	11/04/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Government Assistance: Wales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the First Delegated Legislation Committee of Wednesday 10 April 2019 and the oral contribution of the member for Sefton Central, when he plans to respond to the request of the Welsh Government for an explanation of the government's legal position that State Aid is a reserved matter; and if he will confirm whether the government has previously given the commitment not to amend domestic legislation in devolved areas without the agreement of the devolved administrations.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	244064
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2019 answer text <p>Ken Skates, Minister for Economy and Transport at the Welsh Government, wrote to the Secretary of State on 25 January 2019. Whilst noting that the regime established by the State aid regulation was an important step in ensuring alignment between the UK and EU on state aid, the letter queried the position on reservation.</p><p>My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State explained that there is no difference of opinion between the administrations on the current policy adopted in relation to State aid and explained the UK Government’s intention to work closely with them (and the other devolved administrations) on the development of State aid policy.</p><p> </p><p>I understand this correspondence enabled Jeremy Miles, Counsel General and Brexit Minister for the Welsh Government, to update the National Assembly for Wales’ Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee by letter dated 20 March 2019, noting that he was, “<em>reassured that there is still scope to resolve the ongoing dispute between our administrations to reflect devolution in the medium to longer term, and will continue working with the UK Government towards that end</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>Under the EU Withdrawal Act 2018, the UK Government can amend deficiencies in retained EU law where this would fail to operate effectively otherwise. Where EU law falls within an area of devolved competence, the Memorandum on the EU Withdrawal Bill and the Establishment of Common Frameworks (April 2018) clarifies that the Government will not normally seek to use these powers without the agreement of the devolved administrations.</p><p> </p><p>The UK Government remains fully committed to this position. However, given that we consider that the regulation of State aid is reserved, we did not consider that this commitment was engaged in respect of the draft State aid regulations. I am nevertheless still committed to working closely with the Welsh Government and the other devolved administrations on the development of State aid policy.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 24/04/2019 15:30:06 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson