§ Dame Janet FookesTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his Department has done to encourage enterprise and innovation in British industry; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LilleySince the publication of the White Paper "DTI—the department for Enterprise" in January 1988, my Department has spent over £800 million in a range of initiatives to encourage enterprise and innovation in British industry and a very large number of firms have benefited. Applications to the Department's consultancy scheme under the enterprise initiative are now approaching 100,000 and the 40,000th project under the scheme was completed last week. Forty thousand managers have attended seminars and other live events under the "Managing into the 90s" awareness programme which was launched in 1989. The small firms merit award for research and technology—SMART—scheme has grown steadily since its introduction on a pilot basis in 1986. The last three annual competitions attracted 3,663 applications and more than 500 awards were made with a total Government commitment of £29 million. The support for products under research—SPUR—scheme introduced last year has been a great success with industry: over £9 million of' Government support has already been committed and the 100th grant under the scheme was awarded this week. My Department has spent over £200 million in support of collaborative research programmes during the past three financial years. These achievements are part of my Department's continuing programme to stimulate innovation and to help companies to prepare for the challenges of the 1990s.
I announced last week that I am stepping up support for innovation by increasing expenditure over the next three years. Total provision for the DTI's innovation budget which is aimed at supporting industrial R and D will be some £346 million over three years. The budget is set to rise from £101 million in 1991–92 to £126 million in 1994–95. This represents a 27 per cent. increase in real terms over the 1990–91 outturn figure of £83 million and a 12 per cent. real terms increase over the estimated outturn of £101 million in 1991–92.
I am pleased to announce today extensions to the SMART scheme, subject to clearance with the European Commission, and the "Managing into the 90s" initiative, and a sister programme to the successful teaching company scheme which will encourage senior academics to 131W work in industry. My Department will also fund an extension of the Shell technology enterprise programme. We shall continue our commitment to the enterprise initiative and to support for collaborative research including the Link initiative. The following paragraphs give more detail.
We shall be extending initiatives to help smaller firms. I am very pleased to announce a new three year programme of SMART competitions worth more than £40 million. This represents an increase of more than 40 per cent. over the corresponding budget during the last three years. SMART is open to individuals and organisations with fewer than 50 employees. Each year we shall be offering 180 stage I awards worth up to £45,000 each, for highly innovative projects with real commercial promise. Winners of the stage I awards are eligible to apply for stage II awards, each worth up to £60,000, towards further development work.
The "Managing into the 90s" awareness campaign, which seeks to spread best management practice, has had real impact amongst small and medium-sized enterprises. Building on this success, the programme will be extended and updated in a new phase which I am announcing today. Starting this summer, the new phase will focus on management practices which can help business rise to the challenges of competitive markets, innovate successfully and manage effectively the resulting need for change. New topics will be introduced relating to this theme. Part of the programme will specifically address the needs of the manufacturing sector. Representatives of training and enterprise councils have indicated that they welcome the new phase and that they look forward to co-operating with DTI over it.
The senior academics in industry programme which I am announcing today builds on the concept of the highly successful teaching company scheme. The programme, which will be run on a pilot basis for two years, will support the placement of senior academics in industry, for up to six months, to carry out a technology project which will benefit from their knowledge and research experience.
My Department will also fund an expansion of the Shell technology enterprise programme—STEP. This programme puts undergraduates into small firms in order to encourage students to consider careers in industry and help small firms realise the benefits of employing graduates. My Department will be making a contribution of £500,000 over three years, which will enable Shell almost to double the number of placements.
The Link initiative is proving a highly sucessful mechanism for encouraging collaborative research between industry and academia. Link is now firmly established as a process whereby large and small companies can co-operate with academia in high quality, industrially-relevant research. The Government are today publishing its response to the Segal Quince Wicksteed review of Link and I also warmly welcome the publication of the LINK steering group's first report. Today I am also announcing extensions of two particularly successful Link programmes for two further years with additional funding. The first of these is the Link nanotechnology programme, which is run jointly by DTI and the Science and Engineering Research Council. The programme will receive additional funding of £4 million from the Government. I am also announcing extension of the Link 132W food processing programme which will receive additional Government funding of £3 million, including £2 million from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.