Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Female Entrepreneurs

Wednesday 13 July 2022 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • A taskforce on women-led high growth enterprise was set up to influence high growth investors and raise aspiration for female entrepreneurs.
  • The Government are committed to supporting women entrepreneurs through the implementation of recommendations from the Rose review.
  • The Government are committed to helping families with childcare through available options and encourage families to take up these options.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Caroline Dinenage Con Gosport
Business & Trade Women & Equalities
Context

The question addresses the need to support women starting and scaling businesses.

Question

What steps are being taken with Cabinet colleagues to help support female entrepreneurs? If women were starting and scaling businesses at the same rate as men, it would add £250 billion to the UK economy. We need to turbocharge investment and support for female entrepreneurship by pivoting existing financial packages like the enterprise investment scheme.

Answer from Chloe Smith

A taskforce on women-led high growth enterprise was set up and will use its convening power to influence high growth investors and raise aspiration for female entrepreneurs. The Government are committed to supporting women entrepreneurs through the implementation of recommendations from the Rose review.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific request to pivot financial packages like the enterprise investment scheme was not addressed directly.

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Q2 Caroline Dinenage Con Gosport
Business & Trade Women & Equalities
Context

The question addresses the need to support women starting and scaling businesses.

Question

I thank the Minister for that answer, but if women were starting and scaling businesses at the same rate as men it would add £250 billion to the UK economy. We need to turbocharge investment and support we are giving to female entrepreneurship. What thought has been given to pivoting some of the existing financial packages, such as the enterprise investment scheme, to better support women-led enterprises?

Answer from Chloe Smith

The Government are committed to supporting women entrepreneurs through the implementation of recommendations from the Rose review. However, the enterprise investment scheme has specific objectives and is not designed for pivoting to specifically support women-led enterprises.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The request to pivot financial packages like the enterprise investment scheme was partially acknowledged but not fully addressed.

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Q3 Alison McGovern Lab Birkenhead
Benefits & Welfare Children & Families
Context

The question addresses the issue of childcare functioning within universal credit and its impact on women becoming entrepreneurs.

Question

The hon. Member for Gosport rightly points out some problems with Government schemes, but the Minister should know that the way childcare functions within universal credit does not help women become entrepreneurs. What conversations has she had with other Ministers in the Department for Work and Pensions and civil servants on reform to childcare?

Answer from Chloe Smith

The Government are committed to helping families with childcare through available options. The message from this exchange today encourages families to take up the childcare options that are available and supports people as they do so.

Not addressed: The specific request about conversations on reforming childcare within universal credit was not addressed.

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)