§ 34. Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his policy is on increasing business formation in the North-east of England. [128976]
§ Mr. CabornA stable economic climate is vital to stimulate development. The DTI aims to promote enterprise and innovation and is particularly keen to support successful, sustainable business start-ups. It has set up the Small Business Service (SBS) specifically to champion and service the needs of small business and act as a strong voice on their behalf within Government. The Chief Executive of the SBS, David Irwin, has 20 years experience in the North-east of helping people to start up and grow their businesses. Small businesses make up nearly 99 per cent. of all businesses in the UK and employ more than half the total workforce. The North-east has fewer than its fair share of new start-ups. This fact is recognised by the Regional Development Agency, One NorthEast, who have published their Regional Economic Strategy. One of the key objectives is to address this problem and the new European objective 2 Single Programming Document will be an important vehicle to drive this forward.