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<p>The Government was pleased to see that statistics reported by the Insolvency Service
showed the number of corporate insolvencies in March 2024 had fallen by 28% compared
to March 2023.</p><p>The Government continues to help businesses, including through
a swathe of policy measures in the Autumn explicitly aimed at ‘Backing British business’.
Recent and current Government policies supporting businesses include:</p><p>· Energy
Bills Discount Scheme that provided discounts on high energy bills to eligible businesses
and other non-domestic energy users from April 2023 to April 2024, with higher support
to businesses in energy / trade intensive sectors.</p><p>· Continued frozen small
business rates multiplier and business rates relief for the Retail, Hospitality and
Leisure sector, the latter policy supporting around 230,000 properties up to £110,000
per business. Transitional Relief to protect ratepayers facing bill increases due
to rising rateable value and scrapping ‘downwards caps’.</p><p>· Payment and cashflow
review outlining measures to combat late payments that can jeopardise stable cashflows,
and penalising late paying firms by exempting those paying invoices after an average
of 55 days from bidding for Government contracts worth over £5mn.</p><p>The Government
will continue to monitor the UK corporate sector, including insolvency trends, using
official data and engaging with firms and business groups to inform policy decisions.</p>
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