David Amess speaks out for small businesses

David Amess, Member of Parliament for Southend West, yesterday raised the issue of bank lending to small and medium-sized enterprises in the House of Commons. 

Mr Amess told the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills that many small and medium-sized businesses in Southend West continue to suffer in the current economic climate and that their situation is not being helped by the negative attitude of banks towards lending.

Their difficult situation has only been compounded by the failure of numerous overly complex and bureaucratic schemes introduced by the government. The Southend West MP cited a survey by the Federation of Small Businesses which showed that only 1% of members surveyed have used government funding as a major source of finance. In contrast, the Conservative Party has been calling for a bold and simple National Loans Guarantee Scheme to get credit flowing again and help firms through the recession.