§ Mr. David Atkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he has analysed by size those firms applying under the loan guarantee scheme; and if he will publish the results.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe scheme is being operated from the Department's point of view with very limited resources and I do not think that a detailed examination of the size of firms applying under the scheme would be justified at present. The limit of £75,000 on guaranteed loans is favourable to smaller firms, however, and to date just over half of the loans issued have gone to new firms which are almost certainly all very small.