§ Lord Molloyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What incentives are being considered to aid small businesses, and assist in the launching of them.
§ Viscount TrenchardThis Government have already introduced many measures to aid small businesses, and intend to build on this foundation, but I cannot anticipate my right honourable friend's Budget Statement. A number of schemes are still at the pilot stage, for example the Loan Guarantee Scheme and the Enterprise Allowance, and we will be monitoring these carefully. The counselling provided by the Small Firms Service has been a very effective way of helping small businesses and we are considering how to make it even more responsive to larger and growing firms in the small firms sector. We are also looking at a number of new initiatives which will be announced in due course.