Written questions by Anderson.

What estimate her Department has made of the number of small businesses in (a) the UK and (b) Buckingham and Bletchley constituency that operate below the VAT registration threshold.

a) The total number of businesses in 2024 is estimated at 5.6 million (see Business population estimates 2024 - GOV.UK, detailed table 2). According to HMRC statistics, there were around 1.3 million business registered for VAT with turnover above the threshold in 2023-34 (see Value Added Tax (VAT) annual statistics - GOV.UK, Table T5). Thus the number of businesses with turnover below the threshold would be approximately the remainder of the 5.6 million, or 4.3 million. It should be noted that some businesses with turnover below the threshold are voluntarily registered for VAT; there were around 0.9 million such businesses in 2023-24. b) No estimate has been made of the number of small businesses operating below the VAT registration threshold at the constituency level. Any estimate would be above cost grounds.

What assessment she has made of the barriers faced by UK-domiciled high-growth firms seeking to transition from private to public capital markets.

The UK’s capital markets are deep and strong, delivering for firms and investors, and supporting firms to start, scale, list and stay here. At Mansion House, the government published its Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy. This document sets out the government’s ten-year plan for the UK to be the world’s centre of choice for financial services investment now and in 2035, with capital markets as a core pillar of the strategy.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure compliance with employment and tax regulations among cash-based businesses operating on the high street.

HMRC is committed to ensuring that the tax system operates fairly and efficiently and creates a level playing field for all compliant businesses. Most businesses pay what they owe, but a minority fail to register or only declare a portion of their earnings for tax. This minority deprives our vital public services of funding, affects fair competition between businesses and places unfair burdens on everyone else. The Government’s position is that cash is a legitimate means of paying for goods and services and continues to be used by many people across the UK. However, regardless of the type of payments a business receives, it is their responsibility to ensure they meet their tax obligations, including registering for and paying the right taxes. HMRC are making it increasingly difficult for businesses to hide their income by using improved targeting with new data sources and risking technology, greater access to third party data and through focused compliance activity, working with other Government agencies and law enforcement.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of Benchmarks Regulation reform on (a) market confidence and (b) cross-border data interoperability.

The UK’s capital markets are deep and strong, delivering for firms and investors, and supporting firms to start, scale, list and stay here. At Mansion House, the government published its Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy. This document sets out the government’s ten-year plan for the UK to be the world’s centre of choice for financial services investment now and in 2035, with capital markets as a core pillar of the strategy.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of VAT treatment rules in the digital advertising market for UK-based small businesses.

UK VAT is charged on the domestic and cross-border supply of digital advertising services to UK businesses. The Government keeps the application and adequacy of the UK’s VAT regime under regular review.

How the effectiveness of the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System will be assessed in supporting firms to raise pre-IPO capital.

The UK’s capital markets are deep and strong, delivering for firms and investors, and supporting firms to start, scale, list and stay here. At Mansion House, the government published its Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy. This document sets out the government’s ten-year plan for the UK to be the world’s centre of choice for financial services investment now and in 2035, with capital markets as a core pillar of the strategy.

What plans she has to measure the effectiveness of the Listings Taskforce in increasing the number of UK and international firms listing on UK markets.

The UK’s capital markets are deep and strong, delivering for firms and investors, and supporting firms to start, scale, list and stay here. At Mansion House, the government published its Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy. This document sets out the government’s ten-year plan for the UK to be the world’s centre of choice for financial services investment now and in 2035, with capital markets as a core pillar of the strategy.

What recent estimate her Department has made of the average annual training cost per apprentice borne by small businesses in the personal services sector.

The department does not hold a breakdown of apprenticeships data for the personal services sector.The government offers a range of financial support to support small businesses across all sectors to take on apprentices. The government pays full training costs for young apprentices aged 16-21, and for apprentices aged 22-24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been, or are, in local authority care, when they under-take apprenticeships with non-levy paying employers.For all other apprentices, employers that do not pay the levy are required to co-invest 5% towards apprentice training costs.The government also pays £1,000 to both employers and providers for apprentices aged 16-18, and for apprentices aged 19-24 who have an EHC plan or have been, or are, in local authority care.

Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding was allocated to local partnerships in Buckinghamshire in the last rural and wildlife crime funding settlement.

Defra does not provide financial allocations to local partnerships for tackling wildlife crime but instead provides funding directly at the national level, to the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), and in 2025/26 is providing £424,000. Home Office, similarly, does not provide financial allocations to local partnerships. Home Office provides funding directly at the national level. In 2025/26 the Home Office has provided the NWCU with £450k and the National Rural Crime Unit with £365k. The NWCU helps prevent and detect wildlife crime by obtaining and disseminating intelligence, undertaking analysis which highlights local or national threats, and assisting law enforcers with investigations. In 2024-25 the NWCU provided support on wildlife crime cases to every local police force in the UK including Thames Valley Police.

What plans are in place to monitor the geographic distribution of SME lending facilitated by British Business Bank schemes.

Where possible, finance facilitated by the British Business Bank is mapped to a postcode level. Much of this data is published: for instance, the number and value of Start Up Loans data is published on the BBB website every quarter. Geographic data is also used in the evaluations of BBB programmes and on reporting on the BBB’s overall KPI of deployment of finance outside of London.In addition to publishing data on its own programmes, the BBB also publishes reports which highlight geographic patterns observed in UK small business finance. For example, the BBB's annual Small Business Finance Markets report and the annual Nations and Regions Tracker which is next due to be published in October 2025.

How many patients will be evacuated under the Gaza Medical Evacuation Scheme; and what his planned timetable is for those evacuations.

I refer the Hon. Members to My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s Written Statement to the House on 1 September 2025, available at the following link:https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-09-01/hcws899

How many small businesses in the hospitality and retail sectors have accessed apprenticeship support schemes in the last three years in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.

The department’s Apprenticeships by Industry Characteristics publication contains apprenticeship starts figures, including by sector, constituency, and size of businesses. This data has been available since 29 May 2025 and can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics/2022-23.Apprenticeship starts by constituency are available in the apprenticeships statistics publication. This data has been available since 17 July 2025 and can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships/2024-25.

What modelling his Department has undertaken on the anticipated economic impact of expanding SME access to growth capital.

The economic impacts of increased access to capital are modelled by the British Business Bank drawing on independent evaluation evidence. The Bank models impact on job creation and economic output in the form of incremental gross value added (GVA).Over its first decade to 2023/24, the Bank has supported more than 200,000 businesses with an estimated boost to UK economic output of approximately £43 billion over the lifetime of their finance.The 24,000 businesses newly funded by the Bank in 2024/25 are expected to increase UK economic output by a further £8 billion and create 38,000 jobs over the lifetime of their finance.

Whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to set statutory targets for levels of SME participation in public sector procurement.

The Government is determined to ensure the £385 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually, delivers economic growth and supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The Government previously announced that all departments would set SME spend targets, and now plans to expand that requirement to the wider public sector - further prioritising and boosting spending with SMEs. The Government is analysing responses to our recent public consultation on further reforms to public procurement processes. These proposals aim to drive economic growth, support small businesses, and better support innovation. We will publish our conclusions and further actions to improve public procurement in due course.

What mechanisms his Department uses to evaluate the effectiveness of export support services for SMEs.

DBT offers a range of support for SME’s, with the recent Small Business Plan unlocking billions of pounds in finance to support businesses to invest and revitalising the High Street as a place to do business. The new online Business Growth Service will deliver support for Digital Adoption and AI to unlock business potential. And our Trade Strategy offers a more targeted approach to export support, including the launch of the Ricardo Fund to help UK regulators remove regulatory barriers for businesses trading abroad.DBT has a robust monitoring and evaluation framework in place for export support and the Trade Strategy. The data will be published in DBT's Annual Report.

What steps his Department is taking to support the development of local strategic delivery plans for early childhood outcomes under the Test, Learn and Grow programme in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes.

The Test, Learn & Grow programme is modelling and scaling an approach to public service reform and mission delivery that closes gaps between policy, delivery and service users, and speeds up learning and improvement. In July, the Programme announced the 10 places that it will be working with in England. These are: Barnsley, Wakefield, Manchester, Liverpool, Sandwell, Northumberland, Essex, Plymouth, Nottingham, and within London. Challenges the teams will look at will include increasing the uptake of Best Start Family Hubs to support parents and young children - and this is currently being scoped with input from the Department for Education, Cabinet Office and local partners. The Programme is committed to spreading practice and insights to local authorities across the country and will ensure that this opportunity is available to Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.

What discussions she has had with stakeholders on the potential impact of pay transparency requirements on workplace equality.

As part of our ongoing commitment to advancing workplace equality, we launched a Call for Evidence on Equality Law, including questions on pay transparency. This will help us to better understand how increased transparency may impact women, ethnic minorities, disabled people, and other groups in the workplace. We are now analysing responses to the Call for Evidence, which closed on 30 June, and will give careful consideration as to whether additional pay transparency measures would be proportionate and effective in improving pay equality in Great Britain. We thank all respondents—individuals, employers, trade unions, and civil society—for their valuable input.

With reference to the document entitled Backing your business, published on 31 July 2025, what steps her Department plans to take to tackle sector-specific labour shortages identified by industry groups through its policies on future-proofing skills, outlined in Chapter 5 of that document.

Skills England aims to understand the nation’s future skills needs and drive growth by mobilising employers and partners to co-create solutions that address national and regional skills priorities. Skills England’s second report, ‘Skills for Growth and Opportunity’, outlines key sector-specific skills needs. The department is aligning our skills system with priority sectors to tackle labour shortages. This includes funding uplifts for priority 16-19 courses, establishing new Technical Excellence Colleges and introducing short courses funded through the Growth and Skills Levy. Recognising that not all parts of the skills system work as well for smaller businesses, we have introduced flexible apprenticeship models including flexi-job apprenticeship agencies to support small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in sectors with short-term, project-based work, such as construction. Within the construction package announced this year, the Construction Industry Training Board is doubling its new entrant support team programme to help SMEs overcome administrative barriers and better recruit, engage and retain apprentices.

What data her Department plans to collect to assess the effectiveness of its targeted support to help SMEs offer apprenticeships.

Small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are important to the economy and to apprenticeships. They provide valuable opportunities for younger apprentices and apprentices from disadvantaged areas.The department collects and publishes data on apprenticeship starts in SMEs. Around 40% of apprenticeship starts are in SMEs and they account for more than 100,000 apprenticeship starts each year.The government pays full training costs for young apprentices aged 16-21, and for apprentices aged 22-24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been, or are, in local authority care, when they undertake apprenticeships with non-levy paying employers.For all other apprentices, employers that don’t pay the levy are required to co-invest 5% towards apprentice training costs.The government also pays £1,000 to both employers and providers for apprentices aged 16-18, and for apprentices aged 19-24 who have an EHC plan or have been, or are, in local authority care.

What steps she is taking to ensure that Early Years Pupil Premium funding is aligned with the Government’s quality improvement objectives in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes.

The government is taking coordinated steps to ensure that early years pupil premium (EYPP) aligns with broader quality improvement objectives in early years education.Through the department’s Best Start in Life strategy, we are ensuring families across the country can access affordable, high-quality early education and family support services that support them to thrive.In April 2025, we increased funding for EYPP by an unprecedented 45%, to a maximum of £570 per year per child in all local authorities across England.The government’s new early years strategy, ‘Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life’, explicitly links EYPP with its wider goals of reducing inequalities early in life, improving early years provision, strengthening transitions into primary school and enhancing workforce development through training and professional recognition. This includes additional EYPP funding targeted at high-need areas and the creation of published guidance to drive quality of spend.From 2026, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education wants to provide additional funding to extend EYPP in areas most in need, and test different approaches to using this funding to understand how best to maximise its impact, ensuring that the children most at risk of falling behind receive high-quality evidence-informed support.