Select committee: Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 19
8th Report - Female entrepreneurship
Published 22 Oct 2025
Addressed to Government Equalities Office
Women and Equalities Committee Female entrepreneurship All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Government should remove entirely the age limit on eligibility for the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). The existing seven-year threshold does not adequately reflect the structural and social challenges faced by many 55 female founders, including longer growth trajectories typical of the sectors in which they operate and the impact of caregiving-related career breaks. Extending the eligibility period would better accommodate these realities, promote gender equity in access to growth capital, and support the scaling of female-led enterprises across the UK. (Recommendation, Paragraph 74)
From: Women and Equalities Committee, 8th Report - Female entrepreneurship (HC 711), 22 October 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 27 January 2026 (deadline 22 December 2025).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the Committee's focus and cites existing initiatives, but does not adopt the call for a separate female entrepreneurship strategy, a dedicated Minister and Office, or a new Female Enterprise Investment Scheme.
- On a separate strategy and dedicated Minister, the government states that women-led businesses "should be embedded in everyone's agenda" and integrated into mainstream policies, rather than "seen as distinct from the wider economy".
- On a Female Enterprise Investment Scheme, it says a scheme with "targeted differential rates" would raise "complex design and compliance issues which would need to be examined carefully", and would need to be assessed against the fiscal context.
- On mandatory venture capital reporting, it says the FCA does not request reporting from venture capital firms on deals, and that this recommendation "would not align" with the FCA's plans to streamline returns.
- On parental leave, it says the Parental Leave and Pay review will run for around 18 months, and that decisions on reform or legislation "will depend on the findings of the review, ministerial priorities, and the wider fiscal context".