HC Deb 31 October 2002 vol 391 cc996-8
32. Mr. Huw Edwards (Monmouth)

What she is doing to increase the number of women setting up their own businesses. [76452]

The Minister for Women (Ms Patricia Hewitt)

The cross-cutting review of Government services for small businesses, published earlier this month, reinforced our commitment to encourage more women entrepreneurs. Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the launch of Prowess, an organisation that promotes women's enterprise around the country that we support through the Government's phoenix fund.

Mr. Edwards

I welcome my right hon. Friend's reply. Does she agree that in Wales women are particularly under-represented in the small business sector? Will she join me in commending the work of the Welsh Development Agency and its entrepreneurship action plan, which gives practical business support to women and other under-represented groups? May I just mention the success of one local woman entrepreneur in my constituency, Simone Price, who has a very successful fitness centre and was recently awarded fitness trainer of the year?

Ms Hewitt

I am delighted to join my hon. Friend in congratulating his constituent and the Welsh Development Agency on their work. Increasing the number of women entrepreneurs in Wales is integral to the business birthrate strategy. I very much welcome the work of the WDA with Chwarae Teg on a Welsh women's enterprise programme.

Sue Doughty (Guildford)

Although the number of self-employed females has increased in the past few years, it is a different story in the boardroom. The number of women directors in the top 100 FTSE companies decreased over the past three years despite the fact that the most successful companies have women directors. What are the Government doing to address that?

Ms Hewitt

The hon. Lady is right to draw attention to the woeful lack of women at the top of our major corporations. My right hon. and learned Friend the Solicitor-General has done a great deal of work with the FTSE female index to draw attention to that problem. We are challenging corporations, their shareholders and their management to do better. The larger issue is the need to encourage more women to start up a business. I welcome, as I am sure the hon. Lady does, the findings of last year's Barclay's bank survey in which nine out of 10 women said that it is now easier to start a business. We will continue to encourage women to set up their own business and to go much higher in large businesses.

Ms Diane Abbott (Hackney, North and Stoke Newington)

Is the Minister aware of the large numbers of black and minority ethnic women going into business, many in traditional areas such as hairdressing and catering but also increasingly into non-traditional areas? What is she doing to help, encourage and support black and minority ethnic business women?

Ms Hewitt

One of those very successful black woman entrepreneurs, Yvonne Thompson, chairs the ethnic minority business forum, which I set up when I was Minister for Small Business and E-Commerce to advise the Government on how we can more effectively support black entrepreneurs. I am delighted to say that we are supporting, again through the phoenix fund, a number of programmes throughout the country that direct support specifically to black entrepreneurs and black women entrepreneurs in particular.

Mrs. Caroline Spelman (Meriden)

I am glad that the Minister mentioned the banks. I wonder if she is aware that the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants says that inequality in access to finance is holding back female entrepreneurs, who on average receive only a third of the capital obtained by their male counterparts. What does the Minister see as the main barriers acting against women who want to receive finance from the banks? What are the Government doing to address that?

Ms Hewitt

The hon. Lady raises an extremely important point. Access to finance, which is the No. 1 issue for every entrepreneur, is undoubtedly a particular barrier for women. That is partly because women, on average, have less access to personal security that they can offer to the banks, but I am afraid that it is also because some bank managers clearly do not think that women can succeed in business. We are working with the British Bankers Association on that, and through Prowess and its network of women's business support organisations we are directly supporting loan funds that target their operations on women entrepreneurs.

Barbara Follett (Stevenage)

Is my right hon. Friend aware that new businesses started by women are far less likely to fail than those started by men? That is put down to our natural caution and our ability to do more than one thing at once. Given that women have those attributes, will the Minister do all that she can to encourage girls to take up a career in management?

Ms Hewitt

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is a very striking fact that whereas in Britain fewer than a third of businesses are started by women, in America more than four in 10 new businesses are started by women. and businesses owned by black women there are growing at twice the rate of all the women-owned businesses and at four times the rate of all American firms. There is enormous entrepreneurial potential among our women that we seek to encourage. I am not surprised that the global entrepreneurship monitor report, which I know my hon. Friend is aware of, noted last year that one of the best ways for Britain to increase its levels of entrepreneurship would he to support and encourage more women into business, and that is exactly what we are doing.