HC Deb 27 July 1993 vol 229 cc954-5W
Dr. David Clark

To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, Central (Mr. Cousins), of 4 November 1992,Official Report, columns 315–16, how much EC funding was made available under the Perifra scheme to each of the eight projects that were approved on 7 August 1992; and how much direct funding was made available to each project by (a) local authorities, (b) Hertfordshire training and enterprise council, (c) the Royal British Legion and (d) the Government.

Mr. Sainsbury

[holding answer 23 July 1993]: The information requested is as follows.

amount of committed spending so far; and what is the length of processing time from submission of applications to approval.

Mr. McLoughlin

[holding answer 26 July 1993]: SMART—small firms merit award for research and technology—is an annual competition with a closing date for entries. Winners are announced three months later. The number and value of awards made within the current programme, which commenced in 1992, and expenditure to 30 June 1993 are as follows:

Region/Nation No. of awards Value of awards offered (£'000) Expenditure (£'000)
East 17 763 271
East Midlands 17 757 489
North East 8 352 201
Northern Ireland 6 239 134
North West 16 684 456
Scotland 17 755 419
South East 31 1,350 856
South West 20 880 542
Wales 16 714 471
West Midlands 18 765 496
Yorks/Humberside 14 611 478
Total 180 7,870 4,813

SPUR—support for products under research—was launched in 1991. The average processing time of applications is 108 days. The number and value of awards, and expenditure to 30 June 1993 are:

Region/Nation No. of awards Value of awards offered (£'000) Expenditure (£'000)
East 29 2,607 450
East Midlands 18 1,848 507
North East 12 1,070 194
North West 57 3,993 1,178
Scotland 28 3,157 1,173
South East 56 5,956 1,619
South West 19 1,450 537
Wales 21 1,893 430
West Midlands 32 2,274 729
Yorkshire/Humberside 42 3,145 999
Total 314 27,393 7,816