§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effects on the Stroud constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [152400]
§ Mr. Caborn[holding answer 6 March 2001]: Since May 1997 my Department has introduced and developed a variety of initiatives in my hon. Friend's constituency. These include the competitiveness development fund, which has supported two projects close to Stroud. This fund is provided to the South West regional development 454W agency. It includes funding for the regional development agency's south west innovation fund which supports research and development projects for small and medium-sized enterprises.
One company which has benefited is IONEX—a small water treatment company where a grant of £3,000 was given to continue to develop electro catalytic electrodes for the reduction of nitrate to nitrogen and oxygen. Another company, Primrose Bumble, received a grant of £2,250 to help with the development of a spelling aid for dyslexic individuals.
The constituency's small business community has also benefited from several smart awards and the local business link facilitated 95 business start-ups in the year 2000.
The Department's funds have also benefited the Stroud energy group, an environmental group who advise on renewable energy and ways to improve environmental awareness. £200K in total has been given to the project's publicity funds.
The Gloucestershire market towns scheme is an single regeneration budget (SRB) scheme which is active within the Stroud DC area. This covers seven Gloucestershire market towns, including Stroud, Dursley/Cam. This was a successful SRB round 4 bid in 1998 which secured over £1 million of Government funding. It is a five-year scheme which is designed to tackle social deprivation issues in all of the seven identified market towns. This SRB scheme has been providing very useful input into SWRDA's region wide new market/coastal towns initiative which is due to be launched at the end of March 2001.
Gloucestershire-wide initiatives which may have impacted on the Stroud constituency are:
The Gloucestershire Development Agency, West of England Aerospace Forum (WEAF) and Automotive Centres Excellence (ACE) the RDA partnership, which is committed to supporting the Aerospace and Automotive sectors, with approximately £80,000 being provided in 2000–01 to strengthen the businesses in the supply chains of these industries, primarily through networking and mapping exercises.
The £200,000 which has been used to support the development of the Gloucestershire Innovation Centre which will be located at the former Bank of England site at Gloucester Docks. This centre will be of benefit to fledgling businesses in the Gloucester area who will be able to access business mentoring and state of the art facilities. This centre will be part of the regional Business Incubation South West network.
The £45,000 that has been given for the development and improvement of the business focussed research facility at Gloucester Royal Infirmary, in partnership with Cranfield University and Gloucester City Council for 2000–01. This facility will benefit medi-science businesses in the area, who will have access to these facilities.