trade volumes have fallen partly because of the impact of covid, but the exit from the eu has clearly had an impact and new border arrangements have added costs to business. smaller firms with fewer resources have been hit the hardest. between the delays at the border, the extra costs and all the extra paperwork, a lot of businesses are saying that it's been a real struggle for them. so we've said to the government repeatedly, before brexit and again in this report, you need to step up and support the smaller businesses. they've concentrated on the volume businesses, the bigger ones that are doing the most trade with europe, but that's no consolation for those many people whose livelihoods, and sometimes jobs of other people, depend on their being able to do this trade with europe. the committee notes that a brexit support fund worth £20 million was initially created to help small businesses, but only 6.7 million was ever paid out because it was so hard to access the money. and the government says it is continuing to help businesses trade with europe, including free advice from its export support service. but the committee wants more