Call for Evidence
Submitting written evidence to the inquiry
At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced its intention to publish a Small Business Strategy “setting out the government’s vision for support for small businesses”. This will be published in 2025.
To ensure the Committee and Parliament can scrutinise this policy effectively, the Business & Trade Committee will conduct an inquiry to develop recommendations for the strategy and to set criteria against which to judge the Government’s progress.
In particular, we will assess how small business success can contribute to the Government’s overall objectives of raising the rates of economic growth, increasing disposable income and closing regional inequalities. We shall also seek to learn lessons from the approaches taken in other countries, such the US.
Strategy
1. What key issues should be addressed through the small business strategy?
2. How can policymakers ensure that the voice of small businesses’ is heard in government?
Starting a business
3. How straightforward is it to start a business, and what difficulties do entrepreneurs face when starting up?
4. Do small businesses currently face any challenges in competing with larger firms? What can be done to “level the playing field”?
Supporting growth
5. How accessible are public procurement processes for SMEs, and what are the consequences of the Procurement Act 2023 for small businesses?
6. What is your assessment of the export support available to small businesses?
7. What are the current challenges to the long-term sustainability of the high street, including ownership of the high street, and what are the consequences of these trends for SMEs?
Costs
8. What are the key cost pressures, such as energy prices, facing SMEs, and how should these be addressed?
9. What is your assessment of the current overall tax regime, including reporting requirements, for SMEs, and how could it be improved?
Business support
10. Does the Government’s current business support offer meet the needs of SMEs, and how could the offer be improved?
11. Do family-run businesses face any specific challenges, including ‘red tape’, and what support do they require to meet these challenges?
Improving productivity
12. What has been the experience of small businesses in accessing banking services, and how does the Post Office Banking Framework support their needs? To what extent does this framework also provide adequate access to financial guidance and advice?
13. How effectively are productivity-enhancing practices, such as new technologies, being shared and adopted among SMEs? Is the Innovate UK Catapult Network meeting the needs of small businesses?
Implementation
14. How should work across multiple government departments, mayoral strategic authorities, and local authorities be coordinated to support the growth of SMEs?
15. What metrics should the small business strategy use to measure its success, and how should delivery against these objectives be monitored?
The Business and Trade Committee would welcome views on the key priorities and issues that could be explored as part of this programme. Please limit submissions to a maximum of 1,000 words. The deadline for written submissions is Wednesday 16 July 2025.