HC Deb 02 April 1998 vol 309 cc1401-3
7. Mr. Darvill

What measures her Department has taken to encourage small and medium-sized companies to expand their export business. [35979]

The Minister for Small Firms, Trade and Industry (Mrs. Barbara Roche)

My noble Friend the Minister for Trade, the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office—my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, Central (Mr. Fatchett)—and I launched, on 25 March, a new package of measures to help smaller companies to export. These included export explorer, aimed at helping new and inexperienced exporters to break into European markets, and a new internet-based service for matching overseas customers with British suppliers.

Mr. Darvill

Does my hon. Friend agree that those measures show that her Department is working in partnership with business to influence competitiveness, unlike the previous Government, who constantly failed to listen to business and rode roughshod over its concerns?

Mrs. Roche

Yes, of course I agree with my hon. Friend. I thank him for his remarks. We wanted to add to the many excellent small and medium-sized firms that have a good export record new firms which could benefit from some targeted assistance. The proposals have gone down extremely well. We are determined to pursue them. We believe that they will add to the competitiveness of the United Kingdom.

Mr. Ian Taylor

Given that small and medium-sized companies are sensitive to movements in the pound, does the Minister recognise that in fact Governments do have some influence on the pound—first by giving a guide to the market that there is a measured timetable for entry into the single currency and, secondly, by indicating that if there is a single monetary policy, whether within the United Kingdom or within the European Union, greater emphasis needs to be put on management of the fiscal balance, especially incentives to save? That is available to Her Majesty's Government.

Mrs. Roche

I note what the hon. Gentleman has to say. Of course, he was a Minister—indeed, a Minister at the Department of Trade and Industry—in the previous Government. He was equally responsible for the record of the previous Government, who went from boom to bust and then back again. What the hon. Gentleman has just espoused is clearly not the position of his Front-Bench colleagues. That is presumably why he left the Front-Bench team. May I again say, as my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade has said, that we are planning for the long term. What small firms want to know above all is where they will be not only tomorrow but in the next six months. That is what his Government failed to do and we are determined to deliver it.

Mr. Pike

Do not small and medium-sized firms increasingly want to be involved in the export business and to employ more people? One of their worries is that, as a result of the previous Government's record, we are not able to go into the single European currency. They are worried about what will happen when the euro is introduced and we are not able fully to influence exchange rates because we are outside it.

Mrs. Roche

My hon. Friend makes some good points. The previous Government's astonishing lack of preparation let down British businesses. This Administration have gone in, picked up the pieces, and made sure that we put practical measures in place. What is important is that we concentrate on our small and medium enterprises and provide them with a targeted focus. It was the Conservatives' failure on small businesses that drove them to vote for this Government last May.

Mrs. Gillan

The Minister needs to face reality and understand that even her best-intended efforts are failing, because the Government are making it increasingly difficult for small firms to expand their exports. Has she had time to look at the NatWest quarterly survey, which shows that more small firms expect to cut employment in the first quarter of 1998 than to increase it? Has she read this week's Office World survey, which shows that the performance of small firms has slowed at a record rate during the last quarter; that small firms have experienced a reduction in turnover on a scale not seen since the survey began in 1994; that manufacturing is down by 15 per cent.; that 60 per cent. of companies report no growth or a decline in orders; and that Labour's support has fallen to its lowest level since November 1994? Is it not obvious that the honeymoon between small businesses and the Labour party is now over and that the Government are proving disastrous for small businesses?

Mrs. Roche

I noticed that, in the list of purported facts the hon. Lady quotes, she did not mention the Office World survey figure that showed that the party that enjoyed the greatest support among small businesses was the Labour party—she seems to have forgotten that. Can that be the reason why, not so long ago, the hon. Lady told The Sunday Times that the Conservative party had lost the small business vote and that, because the Conservatives had got it wrong last time, people would be seeing few policies from her? The Labour party is absolutely determined to help small and medium businesses, which is why we have taken all the measures we have.