Committee publication · Special Report · 27 January 2026 · HC 1640

Large Print: 8th Special Report - Female entrepreneurship: Government Response

Summary

This is the Government's formal response to the Women and Equalities Committee's October 2025 report on female entrepreneurship. The government accepts or partially accepts most recommendations, citing the £635 million Invest in Women Taskforce fund, British Business Bank initiatives, and Innovate UK's Pledge for Progress. It declines to create a dedicated Minister and separate strategy, arguing women's issues should be mainstreamed across departments instead. The government rejects an FCA mandate for venture capital reporting, citing regulatory burden.

Key findings

Government rejects committee's recommendation for a dedicated Minister and separate Female Entrepreneurship Strategy, preferring mainstreamed integration across existing strategies.
FCA will not be mandated to require venture capital firms to report on gender-based deal allocation, citing reduced regulatory burden priorities and proportionality concerns for smaller registered firms.
British Business Bank committed to embedding diversity in investment processes and deploying £30m anchor investment in Women Backing Women Fund of Funds; already supporting female-led Start Up Loans at higher rates than market.
Innovate UK's Pledge for Progress (April 2025) sets 10 commitments including 50% women assessor recruitment goal, annual diversity data publication covering gender, ethnicity, disability, age; Women in Innovation Awards 2025/26 budget increased 20% with up to 60 awardees.
Government will not create Female Enterprise Investment Scheme or remove EIS age limits, citing fiscal constraints and market-failure targeting rationale; will instead amplify awareness of existing SEIS/EIS schemes via Invest in Women Taskforce.

Government position

Partially accepts. Government endorses recommendations on transparency, data collection, targeted support programmes, and women's inclusion in existing schemes. Rejects FCA regulatory mandate (burden/proportionality concerns), dedicated Minister model (prefers mainstreaming), new tax schemes (fiscal/compliance trade-offs), and EIS age limit removal (risks displacing early-stage investment). Accepts principle of no-intervention-ruled-out on investment quotas if female VC funding plateaus. Commits to continued collaboration via British Business Bank, Innovate UK, Invest in Women Taskforce, and Metro Mayors.

Tone

Procedural

Topics

entrepreneurshipgender-equitypublic-financeventure-capitalsmall-business

Key actors

Women and Equalities Committee, Department for Business and Trade, British Business Bank, Innovate UK, Financial Conduct Authority, Invest in Women Taskforce, Lord Jason Stockwood (Minister for Investment), Blair McDougall (Minister for Services, Small Businesses and Exports)

Notable line

“We believe this collective commitment is stronger than appointing a singular Minister and creating a separate strategy …”

Key Quotes

“The Government has reviewed the recommendations in the report, and its response is attached to this letter.”
— Lord Jason Stockwood and Blair McDougall · opening statement from the two ministers

“… the Bank already embeds diversity and inclusion across its investment processes and partner assessments, ensuring that its interventions contribute to a more accessible and inclusive finance ecosystem.”
— Government (British Business Bank section) · defending existing British Business Bank approach to diversity

“The FCA does not request reporting from venture capital firms, or other alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs), in relation to deals undertaken. FCA do not mandate which investment strategy and investment choices AIFMs should make.”
— Government (FCA section) · explaining FCA regulatory approach and refusal to mandate gender reporting

“Innovate UK has seen an increase in the proportion of successful women-led applications across all competitions from 1 in 7 to 1 in”
— Government (Innovate UK section) · demonstrating progress in women innovator participation

“We believe this collective commitment is stronger than appointing a singular Minister and creating a separate strategy, as women-led businesses should be embedded in everyone's agenda and their interests should be integrated into mainstream policies rather than being seen …”
— Government (Departmental Responses) · rejecting committee's recommendation for dedicated Minister and separate strategy

“Creating an additional scheme with targeted differential rates for particular groups of businesses would raise complex design and compliance issues which would need to be examined carefully. It would also need to be assessed against the fiscal context.”
— Government (Recommendation 10 response) · declining Female Enterprise Investment Scheme proposal

“The Women Backing Women Fund of Funds will bridge the gap between institutional investors and diverse fund managers best placed to 28 back female and mixed businesses.”
— Government (Invest in Women Taskforce section) · describing key institutional investment mechanism

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Source · parliament.uk record ↗