HC Deb 30 January 1978 vol 943 cc26-8
50. Mr. William Hamilton

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the progress he has made to date with proposals to assist small firms.

Mr. Lever

The first conclusions of the study which I have been undertaking with my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Industry were announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his economic statement on 26th October last year. We are pressing forward with work on a number of further proposals for helping small firms which we hope to announce over the next few months.

Mr. Hamilton

Will my right hon. Friend indicate whether he is recommending the continuation of the employment subsidy to small firms? Is he aware that the subsidy has resulted in the conserving, if not creation, of a considerable number of jobs? In that respect and in others, will he examine the history of the new town of Glenrothes in Fife, where most of the 150 businesses fit into that category and where the industrial record is probably the best in the United Kingdom, if not in Europe?

Mr. Lever

I should not like to particularise the recommendations that I give in this area. I can only tell my hon. Friend that I am anxious that we should do more to help small firms, give them more assistance and give it as effectively as we know how. I shall look into the experience to which my hon. Friend has referred and derive any valuable lesson from it that he thinks might arise.

Mr. Rhodes James

Is the right hon. Gentleman able to give any further explanation about the role of the Under-Secretary of State for Industry, the hon. Member for Keighley (Mr. Cryer), who is a notorious opponent of private enterprise and small businesses? Why does the right hon. Gentleman involve the hon. Gentleman in policies directed to small businesses?

Mr. Lever

My hon. Friend can speak very well for himself. I can only say that we have worked together in close harmony, sympathy and effectiveness.

Mr. Sever

When considering proposals for the development of small firms, will my right hon. Friend undertake to give special consideration to the small firms in the heart of the large cities, which are probably the areas of job deprivation, as the small firms in such areas are likely to be the only companies that will be expanding the work force in the foreseeable future?

Mr. Lever

Yes, Sir. I think that small firms have an essential role to play in the revitalisation of our neglected inner cities. The range of services and the manufacturing achievement that they can provide in those areas are vital if we are to help to bring back life and employment on a proper scale to the inner cities.

Mr. Rost

Will the right hon. Gentleman qualify an earlier answer? Is he recommending the repeal or amendment of the Employment Protection Act to help smaller firms and encourage employment?

Mr. Lever

At the risk of disappointing the hon. Gentleman, which I am reluctant to do, I indicated that I was engaging in reflection. I hope that it will not be too distasteful a thought to the hon. Gentleman. I shall be engaging in reflection on how we can maintain the standards that the House set for the protection of work- people in the Act while mitigating any unnecessary burdens that may fall upon the smaller business man in achieving our purpose.

Mr. Heffer

Further to the point raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Mr. Sever), does my right hon. Friend agree that it is in the city centres that the greatest support needs to be given to help develop small firms as most city centres were destroyed by speculation during the period of the previous Conservative Government, in the process of which employment within small firms was destroyed? Does he agree that that is where help needs to be given, including selective support for small firms in such areas?

Mr. Lever

I do not want to adopt my hon. Friend's somewhat oversimplified diagnosis of the problem of the inner cities, but I entirely agree with him that the small firm and support for it from the Government have a special and remarkable role to play in the inner cities. I would not say that, however, to the exclusion of the creative achievement which I expect also in the years ahead from the small firm sector outside the inner cities.