Source · Select Committees · Treasury Committee
Recommendation 16
16
Accepted
Paragraph: 88
Consult with BBB to raise awareness and implement annual criteria for assessing SME engagement.
Recommendation
Government, including HM Treasury and the Department for Business and Trade, should consult with the BBB on an ongoing basis to ensure that everything possible is being done to raise awareness and increase engagement from the SME community. This should include assessing whether the BBB has sufficient resources to publicise its services effectively. Government should subsequently implement criteria by which they can assess the effectiveness of the BBB in reaching SMEs, which they should publish annually.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and commits to working with the British Business Bank (BBB) to improve SME access to finance, providing over £1 billion in funding for the BBB. It notes that the BBB has already published an SME Impact Report addressing the assessment of its reach.
Paragraph Reference:
88
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Government agrees with the Committee that the British Business Bank (BBB) plays an important role in providing support for SMEs. We will work with the BBB to improve the access to finance landscape for SMEs, stimulating supply and demand through targeted interventions. We plan to build on the work the BBB has done to date as it strives to create the opportunity for smaller businesses to invest and grow, generating additional jobs and elevated economic activity. To the question of assessing the effectiveness of the BBB’s reach, the BBB published its first SME Impact Report earlier this year which sets out the impact of BBB’s activity on smaller businesses across the UK’s Nations and regions. The report shows that BBB deployed £3.5bn of public funding into UK smaller businesses in 2023, funding around 23,100 UK smaller businesses, 84% of which were outside of London. The expected impacts over the life of this finance are the creation of 39,400 additional jobs and £19.8bn of additional business turnover, equivalent to £8.4bn of Gross Value Added (GVA)1. The Government wants to empower BBB and ensure that it has sufficient resources to support the SMEs it serves. This is why at Autumn Budget, to help support the Government’s mission to kickstart economic growth, the Department for Business and Trade’s (DBT) settlement will allow them to invest over £1 billion across 2024–25 and 2025–26 for the BBB to enhance access to finance for small businesses, including over £250 million each year for small business loans programmes, including Start Up Loans and the Growth Guarantee Scheme.