Speeches by Thomas.

“I would not want to prejudge what the Committee decides to recommend, but if the Committee was to recommend this, we would certainly be happy to look at that proposition again. As I say, in the 12 months we have been in government, we have been looking at what more we can do to increase the total pot in terms of access…”

“We have launched the parental leave review this week, and it will consider the whole landscape. We are very keen to hear from women entrepreneurs about what we should be doing in that space. The plan is to bring forward recommendations within a 12-month to 18-month period, but I am genuinely keen to hear what will impr…”

“As you rightly say, more generally beyond just the British Business Bank, there is a problem with data collection in that we do not have a comprehensive database anywhere in the UK to track lending to women entrepreneurs, or indeed to black and ethnic minority entrepreneurs. That is one of the issues we have been discu…”

“I would have to check with Treasury colleagues about that. We have put an extra £1.6 billion into delivering on the commitment of 30 hours of free childcare, and we have expanded funding to schools to develop nursery provision. That is obviously a result of the first Budget, but we will keep under review what else we n…”

“Yes, of course.”

“I support what Baroness Gustafsson says and, to be very boring and practical, the £250 billion figure comes from the Rose review, which reported about five years ago. Obviously, the industrial strategy is a much more recent initiative of the current Government. As Baroness Gustafsson said, there is a range of measures …”

“The straight answer is that I do not know, but I am very happy to take that away, have a look and come back to the Committee.”

“I am very happy to think about it. Anything we can do to increase the amount of money being made available to women entrepreneurs is absolutely something we would want to consider. We would want to look at whether there are any wider implications, but in principle, I am happy to look at that as an issue.”

“Through the British Business Bank, we have a programme of seeking to back investment in all the regions and nations of the UK and have been rolling out funding in that regard. It is aimed at targeting women entrepreneurs as well as entrepreneurs more generally. There are a couple of significant regions where we have no…”

“First, we have an existing access to finance programme on debt funding called the Start Up Loans programme, which is not unique to women founders, but approximately 40% of those who benefit from the programme are women founders. We want to expand the Start Up Loans programme significantly. We are working out exactly wh…”

“As I understand it, over the last five years—this is obviously before we came into our positions as Ministers—the investing in women code has shown that the code signatories significantly outperform the wider market in supporting female founders. There appears to be evidence that signing up to the code sees a shift in …”

“As I said, I recognise that this case has raised concerns across the House about the quality and effectiveness of the legislation that governs franchisees and, indeed, other businesses, and about the arrangements around franchisees, and their relationships. As I say, up to now, we have not had significant representatio…”

“The right hon. Gentleman made a very interesting speech with a series of interesting analogies, and I have noted those and the points that he made. As I have said, I will track this particular court case and its conclusions. I always try to make myself available when hon. and right hon. Members want to discuss particul…”

“My hon. Friend will forgive me, but I will not comment on the particular circumstances of Vodafone and its relationship with franchisees in general, or those former franchisees who are bringing court action. However, I note his comment.”

“I have already given a flavour of what might be in the small business strategy. I will leave the right hon. Gentleman to wait a little longer, if I may—he will have to forgive me—before he sees the strategy in full. Let me come to the substance of the right hon. Gentleman’s concern. He rightly and understandably mentio…”

“In the usual way, I thank the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Sir John Hayes) for securing this debate. Having crossed swords with him when our positions were reversed, I approached this debate with particular wariness, not least because he has assembled a very distinguished cross-party group of M…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Butler, for I think the first time, and I hope it is the first of many. I congratulate the hon. Member for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire (Mike Wood) on securing this important debate. I recognise that he has long been an enthusiast for hospitality businesses …”

“The hon. Gentleman is right to make his point. One would hope that the Scottish Government would be as committed to taking action as the Government here in the UK. I hope he and other Scottish colleagues will see a change of heart and approach from the Scottish Government. I understand the sector’s concerns about emplo…”

“The hon. Gentleman underlines the need for significant investment in green energy. Other hon. Members referred to the need to support renewable energy, particularly community renewable energy schemes, as part of the solution to issues around rural prosperity and to tackle the energy challenges that we are all familiar …”

“I thought the hon. Gentleman was going to invite me to come to Wick, but I will certainly pass on the invitation to my officials. We are keen to learn from the experience of the banking hubs that have worked, that are up and running, and that are now seen as being effective. There is more that the Post Office can do to…”