Small businesses need a better deal—certainly better than the one they got from the last Government—and our small business strategy, which is due this year, is designed to do that.

We have already provided more support through the British Business Bank; we have worked with the Federation of Small Businesses to take action on issues such as late payment and retail crime; and we have announced the creation of the new business growth service, which aims to transform business support services.

Later today I will attend a small business summit in Sussex to progress those plans and meet small business leaders.

Too many small and medium-sized defence businesses in my community struggle to access the banking and finance facilities they need, often on the basis of self-imposed ethical criteria.

Will the Business Secretary join me in welcoming how many investors and financial institutions have responded to the campaign I am leading with my hon.

Friend the Member for York Outer (Mr Charters) and 100 other Labour parliamentarians, calling on our banks and fund managers to broaden their approach to defence investment? Will he call on investors to take action so that we can defend our country, support Ukraine, and fire up our industrial base?

As the Secretary of State is aware, the ceramics industry, including in my constituency of Stoke-on-Trent South, is facing immense competition from imported counterfeit goods.

Many of those goods contain false backstamps that mislead consumers and—as the GMB union has raised with me—threaten great British companies such as Dunoon, Duchess and many others.

Will the Minister meet me again to discuss in more detail creating offences and tabling regulations to deal with imported counterfeit ceramic goods?

My Department has a very strong relationship with the ceramics sector through the Energy Intensive Users Group. We have regular meetings with that group, and I would also like to mention the British Ceramic Confederation and our old friend Rob Flello, who is a strong voice for the sector.

There are many challenges for the ceramics sector, not least decarbonisation, but on the subject of consumer protection, it is firmly against UK consumer law for firms—wherever they are located—to give consumers false information, such as through fake product markings.

We have strengthened the regime in this regard, with new enforcement powers for the Competition and Markets Authority coming into force next month, but I will of course get my hon. Friend any meeting she requires.

A constituent in Chorleywood recently contacted me after needing an emergency locksmith due to a broken key. Initially quoted £40 over the phone, she was later charged £1,460, and was only given the new key after making that payment.

While I applaud this Government’s ambition to reduce regulation, can we ensure that there is appropriate regulation so that consumers are not unfairly overcharged, as in this instance?

I, too, have heard the kinds of stories that the hon. Gentleman has articulated—there are definitely concerns in that regard. Broadly, the Government’s regulation agenda is not necessarily about deregulation, but about effective and proportionate regulation.

I feel that our regulatory sector has grown a lot in recent years, and that it does not always compare well to those of other countries in terms of timeliness and business response. That is the agenda we are pursuing, but I will certainly write to the hon.

Gentleman about the issues he has raised, which are very relevant. I appreciate the opportunity to do so and thank him for raising them today.

I thank the hon. Member for her question, and I thank Alison and Kevin for their important work. We already talked about the difficult choices that the Government faced and the unenviable choices that had to be made.

Health and social care was a beneficiary of the additional revenue that needed to be raised to meet some of the challenges we face, but we are not casual about the impact of that, and we recognise the pressures that come from that. I would say that I do not agree.

Taxes have to apply to every sector, and we cannot carve out certain sectors. However, I appreciate the pressures that she articulates. That is why the rest of the Government’s agenda is set to address all those factors.

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

Small businesses are the backbone of the British economy. Up and down the country, we have success stories of innovative start-ups and family-run businesses that should be part of the Government’s plan to get Britain growing again.

Under the Conservatives, the number of small businesses in my constituency decreased by 360 between 2021 and 2024. The Tories messed up our national and local economy. Is the Minister concerned that his Government’s national insurance rises will damage the economy, just as the Conservatives did?

If we were listing the difficult things that small businesses had to deal with in the previous 14 years, we would be here for most of the day and the weekend, if we are being honest. Whether it is how the Conservatives handled Brexit, the mini-Budget or austerity, we could go on and on.

I say to the hon.

Member that we are not casual about what we have had to ask of business because of the unenviable situation we inherited, but the fundamentals of the UK are incredibly strong in political stability and openness to the world, and we have the changes we are making to planning, skills, regulation and energy to make sure we are delivering.