Access to Start Up Loans
Published
There is a new version of this page. View the latest version.
1. Main facts and figures
-
between 2013 and 2016, more than 44,000 people received a Start Up Loan
-
people of Black and Mixed ethnicity were considerably more likely to receive a Start Up Loan than people of other ethnic backgrounds; Asians were less likely to receive a Start Up Loan
-
in 2016, people of Mixed ethnicity were nearly 4 times more likely to receive a Start Up Loan than the overall economically active population; by comparison, Asian people were almost half as likely to receive a Start Up Loan than the economically active population as a whole
Things you need to know
Start Up Loans were first awarded in 2012. They were specifically designed to support people from disadvantaged social groups to start or grow a business. Evidence suggests people from these groups have trouble getting loans from more traditional sources.
In the early years of the scheme, promotion was targeted at people of Black and Mixed ethnicity. This is reflected in the rates for different ethnic groups in 2013 and 2014.
The information for the economically active population aged 18 and over is taken from the Annual Population Survey (APS).
Ethnicity is self-reported by recipients of Start Up Loans.
Data is not given for loan recipients where ethnicity is unknown. This is because the numbers are very variable, and are not consistent with data on people of unknown ethnicity in the APS, so rates cannot be calculated for this group.
What the data measures
This data measures the number of Start Up Loans for every 10,000 people in the economically active population, broken down by ethnic group.
The ethnic categories used in this data
For this data, the number of people surveyed (the ‘sample size’) was too small to draw any firm conclusions about specific ethnic categories. Therefore, the data is broken down into the following 5 broad groups:
- Asian
- Black
- Mixed
- White (including White ethnic minorities)
- Other
2. Individuals accessing Start Up Loans
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | 2013 Loans per 10,000 | 2013 New Loans | 2014 Loans per 10,000 | 2014 New Loans | 2015 Loans per 10,000 | 2015 New Loans | 2016 Loans per 10,000 | 2016 New Loans |
| All | 3.3 | 10,366 | 4.6 | 14,765 | 3.0 | 9,784 | 2.8 | 9,095 |
| Asian | 3.1 | 594 | 2.8 | 566 | 1.7 | 344 | 1.8 | 386 |
| Black | 26.9 | 2,301 | 15.9 | 1,401 | 8.2 | 796 | 7.0 | 691 |
| Mixed | 14.0 | 437 | 24.9 | 809 | 14.0 | 458 | 10.0 | 357 |
| White | 2.3 | 6,554 | 3.9 | 11,134 | 2.6 | 7,522 | 2.4 | 6,939 |
| Other | 0.6 | 27 | 4.5 | 213 | 4.4 | 212 | 2.7 | 138 |
Download table data for ‘Individuals accessing Start Up Loans ’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Individuals accessing Start Up Loans ’ (CSV)
Summary of Access to Start Up Loans Individuals accessing Start Up Loans Summary
This data shows that:
-
people of Black and Mixed ethnicity were considerably more likely to receive a Start Up Loan than people of other ethnic backgrounds; Asians were less likely to receive a Start Up Loan
-
in 2016, people of Mixed ethnicity were nearly 4 times more likely to receive a Start Up Loan than the overall economically active population; by comparison, Asian people were almost half as likely to receive a Start Up Loan than the economically active population as a whole
-
the rate of Black people receiving a Start Up Loan fell from 26.9 per 10,000 in 2013 to 7.0 per 10,000 in 2016, a fall of almost three quarters; this may reflect the targeting of promotion of loans towards people from Black and Mixed ethnicity backgrounds in the early years of the scheme
3. Methodology
Figures for the number of Start Up Loans issued come from the administrative data recorded by the Start Up Loans Company. They are divided by the estimates for the economically active population, taken from the Annual Population Survey (APS). They are expressed as rates per 10,000 in the population.
The APS is a ‘sample survey’. It collects information from a random sample of the population to make generalisations (reach 'findings') about the total population.
As with all surveys, the estimates from the APS are subject to a degree of uncertainty as they are based on a sample of the population. The degree of uncertainty is greater when the number of respondents is small, so it will be highest for ethnic minority groups.
Smaller numbers of survey respondents from ethnic minority backgrounds mean that estimates for ethnic minorities (other than White ethnic minorities) are more unreliable than estimates for White people (which includes White British and White ethnic minorities).
Suppression rules and disclosure control
The numbers of Start Up Loan recipients with unknown ethnic origin have been suppressed. This number is very high compared with the percentage of people with unknown ethnic origin in the economically active population. N/A
Rounding
Numbers for rates of loans per 10,000 have been rounded to 1 decimal place.
4. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Office for National Statistics
Note on corrections or updates
Higher-level figures may differ from those published by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Office for National Statistics that use the Labour Force Survey.
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The Annual Population Survey (APS) is the largest ongoing household survey in the UK and covers a range of topics, including:
- personal characteristics
- labour market status
- work characteristics
- education
- health
The purpose of the APS is to provide information on important social and socio-economic variables at local levels, such as labour market estimates.
The published statistics also allow the government to monitor estimates on a range of issues between censuses.
Secondary source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Office for National Statistics
Note on corrections or updates
Higher-level figures may differ from those published by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Office for National Statistics that use the Labour Force Survey.
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The Annual Population Survey (APS) is the largest ongoing household survey in the UK and covers a range of topics, including:
- personal characteristics
- labour market status
- work characteristics
- education
- health
The purpose of the APS is to provide information on important social and socio-economic variables at local levels, such as labour market estimates.
The published statistics also allow the government to monitor estimates on a range of issues between censuses.
5. Download the data
Year, Value, Ethnic group, numerator