• British Business Bank to support up to £100 million of lending to small businesses through its delivery partners
• UK Finance confirms an additional multi-million pound package for SMEs and extra help for customers concerned about their mortgage or credit card payments
• industry and government continue to work together to ensure businesses and workers are supported following Carillion’s liquidation

A further package of support for the businesses and workers affected by Carillion’s liquidation was welcomed today (Saturday 3 February) by Business Secretary Greg Clark.

Through delivery partners that include all the major high street lenders, the British Business Bank will provide support to make available up to £100 million of lending to small businesses who may not have the security otherwise needed for conventional bank lending using its Enterprise Finance Guarantee programme.

This will be of benefit to small businesses, including the chain of subcontractors to Carillion, who may not have sufficient assets as security to access conventional loans. These guarantees can be used to support overdraft borrowing and refinancing of existing debt.

The UK’s leading banks have also furthered their commitment to provide support to those affected with UK Finance confirming additional support for personal banking customers concerned about overdraft, mortgage or credit card repayments, as well as further financial support for small businesses to provide short-term relief to help keep them afloat.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said:

We want to signal very clearly to small and medium sized businesses who were owed money by Carillion that they will be supported to continue trading.

The banks have responded to my request by agreeing to support businesses and individuals affected. This further guarantee will help those businesses who may not be able to provide the usual security for a loan.

I will continue to work closely with business organisations, trade unions and banks to actively support those affected by Carillion’s insolvency.

British Business Bank CEO Keith Morgan said:

The Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) is an important option for smaller businesses who need access to finance, but may not be able to meet a provider’s normal security requirements. To help in these exceptional circumstances, we have designed additional flexibility into EFG that could be particularly suitable for firms in the Carillion supply chain. We would encourage lenders to work with their customers to use these new flexibilities to meet their needs.

UK Finance Managing Director, Commercial Finance Stephen Pegge said:

UK banks are working with government to support customers and businesses who have been impacted by the Carillion liquidation. The enhancement of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee by the British Business Bank will help those facing temporary cash flow issues to access the finance they need to support their businesses through this period.

This package is in addition to the more than £200 million already announced by Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC and RBS.

1. More than 40 accredited lenders provide finance to their SME customers under the British Business Bank’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme. The Business Secretary has written to all accredited Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) lenders to draw their attention to this additional support, and expects them to ensure that they are actively engaging with SME businesses in Carillion’s supply chain so they can give them the support they need. Accredited EFG lenders are listed on the British Business Bank website.

2. The Business Secretary has written to all accredited Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) lenders to draw their attention to this additional support, and expects them to ensure that they are actively engaging with SME businesses in Carillion’s supply chain so they can give them the support they need. Accredited EFG lenders are listed on the British Business Bank website.

3. Information on how the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme operates and supports businesses can be found on the British Business Bank website.

4. The British Business Bank is the UK’s national economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.

5. On Thursday 18 January the Business Secretary chaired the first meeting of a taskforce set up to monitor and advise on mitigating the impacts of Carillion’s liquidation on construction firms, particularly SMEs and those working in the sector. This meeting builds on a series held by the Business Secretary last week with trade associations, unions and banks.

During the visit, Mr Wallace held a series of high-level meetings with senior members of the Government of Tunisia including the Ministers of Interior, Foreign Affairs, Tourism and Human Rights as well as the Secretary General of the National Security Council.

The Minister also met the tour operators and hoteliers who will be accommodating UK package holidaymakers due to return to Tunisia later this month and and was shown some examples of the security improvements Tunisia has made, including some that the UK has supported.

Following his visit, Mr Wallace said:

“My first official visit to Tunisia comes at an important time for both our countries ahead of the imminent return of British holidaymakers this year. I was pleased to be able to visit some of the areas where tourists will stay and to see for myself the security improvements.

“I was delighted to meet a wide range of ministerial counterparts from the Government of Tunisia. A central theme of my meetings was our strategic security partnership in the fight against global terrorism. Countries around the world must work together by sharing information and expertise in order to combat this scourge and to mitigate the risks against all our citizens.

“I also made clear that the UK remains a steadfast partner in support of Tunisia’s remarkable democratic transition. We will continue to work hand in hand with Tunisia in the years ahead to support economic growth and prosperity as well as stability and security.”

The UK is deeply concerned by the three reports of chlorine attacks by Syrian regime forces in Eastern Ghouta so far in 2018. If it is confirmed that the regime has used chlorine, it would be yet another appalling example of the Asad regime’s blatant disregard for both the Syrian people and its legal obligation not to use chemical weapons.

Russia’s repeated vetoes – which ended the UN Security Council mandated Joint Investigative Mechanism – risk sending a dangerous signal to the Syrian regime that it can use chemical weapons with impunity.

The unrelenting airstrikes and violence by the regime and its backers in Eastern Ghouta and Idlib continue to claim indiscriminately civilian lives on a daily basis and are worsening the already dire humanitarian situation.

The Asad regime must allow immediate, safe and unhindered access for humanitarian assistance. We call on Russia and the regime’s backers to exert their influence to ensure this.

At a meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday (5 February) the UK will again call on Russia and the international community to unite to hold the Asad regime to account for using these abhorrent weapons, to seek justice for the victims and to prevent further attacks.

Minister for Africa Harriett Baldwin meets President Emmerson Mnangagwa in Zimbabwe

Highways England is installing around 170 of the innovative LED road studs at one of England’s busiest motorway junctions – used by over 90,000 vehicles every day.

The intelligent road studs are being introduced as part of a £3 million project to improve journeys and safety at Switch Island in Merseyside, where the M57, M58 and 3 A roads all join together.

The LED road studs light up when traffic lights turn green so drivers can clearly see which lane they should follow. Cables under the road surface connect them to traffic lights through a nearby automatic controller unit.

The studs can be visible up to 1,000 metres away – far greater than traditional reflective road studs – and have been proven to help stop drivers drifting between lanes, reducing the risk of collisions.

Highways England has already installed the LED studs at Hindhead Tunnel in Surrey to guide drivers through the tunnel but the Switch Island scheme will be the first time they have been linked to traffic lights at a motorway junction.

Phil Tyrrell, Project Manager at Highways England, said:

We’re always looking for new ways to further improve journeys and safety for drivers, and I hope the new intelligent road studs will help better guide drivers around Switch Island.

The innovative light-up road studs along with the other improvements we’re introducing will make it much easier to navigate the junction, benefitting the tens of thousands of drivers who travel through it every day.

Construction work on the Switch Island scheme, which is being funded by the government’s £220 million congestion relief programme, is due to start on Monday 5 February and is expected to take around a year to complete.

The scheme is designed to improve the flow of traffic and enhance safety, following 49 collisions at the junction in the past two years – an average of one every fortnight. New traffic lights will be installed at a height of over 5 metres – higher than HGVs and double-decker buses – so that drivers approaching the junction can clearly see when the lights are changing.

Other improvements will include changes to the road layout and lane markings, new barriers between carriageways, coloured high friction surfaces and better signs. And a new 400 metre shared cycle path will be created through the junction, which will link up with the existing cycle path alongside the A5036 Dunnings Bridge Road.

Jerry McConkey, Sefton Council’s Transportation and Highway Infrastructure Service Manager, said:

We have worked closely with Highways England and Merseyside Police to look at the issues at Switch Island and develop improvement proposals.

As a result, we are delighted that these important safety measures are about to be introduced with Highways England implementing the latest technology solutions. This will further improve safety and give drivers a much higher level of confidence when negotiating this busy junction.

The new intelligent road studs which are being installed at Switch Island were designed by Oxfordshire-based company Clearview Intelligence.

Managing Director Nick Lanigan said:

The introduction of intelligent road studs, reacting to traffic light changes on a busy roundabout is a continuation of the traditional road studs legacy but takes advantage of new technology available. The new studs have been proven to reduce lane transgression by over 50% in certain conditions so it’s a great way to help improve the safety for all road users.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.