§ Brian CotterTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funding her Department provides for 507W (a) enterprise grants that are delivered to businesses in the regions by the Small Business Service. (b) the STEP programme, (c) the Faraday Partnership scheme and (d) the Manufacturing Advisory scheme in each year since inception of the scheme; what timescale applies to the funding in each case; and if she will make a statement on the extent to which businesses have benefited from each initiative. [145483]
§ Nigel GriffithsThe information is as follows:
(a) Enterprise Grants
Enterprise Grants are available to small and medium-sized businesses based in the Enterprise Grant Areas of England. Projects can involve expanding, modernising or restructuring an existing business, or setting up a new one. The maximum grant available is £75,000 on projects with up to £500,000 capital investment.
The Enterprise Grant scheme was allocated a budget of £45 million between January 2000 and March 2003. The scheme deadline has been extended to March 2004 and in England, to date, small businesses have benefited from the scheme as follows:
Expenditure (£) 2000–01 3,758,000 2001–02 10,200,000 2002–03 11,800,000 The report covering the Regional Selective Assistance scheme, was undertaken in 2002 and found that businesses who benefited from Enterprise Grant were able to invest in projects that enabled them to increase their productivity and profitability and raise their skills levels, in areas of England that would not normally attract capital investment. By offering a grant of 15 per cent., we encourage private investment covering 85 per cent. of the capital investment costs, again in areas that traditionally struggle to gain investment finance.
STEP
For STEP (the Shell Technology Enterprise Programme), DTI has contributed approximately £0.68 million in 2003–04 and intends to fund STEP at about this level in 2004–05. An exit survey of businesses that participated in STEP in 2003 showed that:
94 per cent. of host company managers stated that their STEP project would have a positive impact on their business's future performance;94 per cent. said their expectations had been met or exceeded (38 per cent. exceeded);89 per cent. of companies believe the benefits of their STEP project either equalled or exceeded the cost of taking part; and68 per cent. thought the project contributed to new processes or procedures within their business.Faraday Partnerships
Faraday Partnerships aim to bring new products and processes, based on the UK science base, to the market more effectively. DTI and the Research Councils support 23 of the 24 Faraday Partnerships: the other is supported by the Scottish Executive and Defra.
508WDTI spend on Faraday Partnerships to date has been:
Expenditure (£) 2000–01 1,915,311 2001–02 3,351,631 2002–03 5,903,343 2003–041 2,904,500 Total 14,074,786 1 First two quarters. Based on a five-year business plan, DTI offers each Faraday Partnership up to £400,000 per year for an initial three years. Subject to an interim review of the Partnership's progress, further support may he made available, but on a tapered basis.
In 2002–03, Faraday Partnerships managed research portfolios totalling over £101 million; over 1,700 firms and nearly 400 University research teams are actively involved.
Initial studies of the impact of the Faraday Partnerships on business have revealed the following generic effects:
more focussed application of research results to new products in many fields;greater understanding of global competitiveness and winning new business;opportunities for SMEs to work with universities and large firms;improvements in manufacturing efficiency and marketing; and new networks linking businesses and researchers.(d) Manufacturing Advisory Service
The Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) was launched in April 2002. The Department's funding commitment is £15 million over the period 2001–02 to 2004–05. as follows:
£ million 2001–02 3 2002–03 5 2003–04 5 2004–05 2 Of this sum, £13.75 million is provided to the English Regional Development Agencies and Welsh Development Agency as part-funding for the 10 Regional Centres for Manufacturing Excellence through which the service is delivered. The remainder of the Department's funding has supported the development of a complementary network of centres of expertise in manufacturing, a national website, and other essential central functions.
The DTI sees the MAS as a real success as a major source of advice and support for manufacturers. Since it was launched, the MAS has handled over 15,000 inquiries. Over 4,500 manufacturing firms have benefited from MAS diagnostic consultations and over 1,000 have gone on to undertake in-depth projects to drive up their productivity and competitiveness. Latest figures show that the total added value to UK firms using the service is approaching £30 million.
§ Brian CotterTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funding her Department has provided for(a) the Advanced Metals Technology Initiative, (b) the Technology Review grant scheme for small businesses, 509W (c) the Innovation and Technology Programme for small businesses and (d) the Development Projects grant scheme in each year since inception of the scheme; what timescale applies to the funding in each case; and if she will make a statement on the timescale to which this funding applies and estimate the extent to which businesses have benefited from each initiative. [145488]
§ Nigel GriffithsThe following information is as follows:
(a) Advanced Metals Technology Initiative
The Advanced Metals Technology Initiative effectively started in September 2003. The DTI is providing funding of £2.5 million over a three year period, up to December 2006, to AMTI. As the project has only recently started it is too early to estimate the extent to which businesses have benefited.
(b) and (d) Technology Reviews and Development Projects
Technology Reviews were introduced in 1999 along with Technology Studies as additional elements of the Smart scheme. The funding provision for these elements was not shown separately from the rest of Smart but expenditure for these two elements was originally forecast to rise to some £2.8 million a year. These elements were withdrawn in May 2003 following the review of DTI business support.
Development Project grants were another element of Smart and the funding provision and payments for this element were not shown separately. This element has now been subsumed within the new Grant for Research and Development which was introduced in June 2003 following the review of DTI business support.
The overall funding provision for Smart and the benefits to small and medium sized businesses in terms of grant payment outturn were as follows:
£ million Total Smart outturn Technology Reviews and Studies outturn 1997–98 25.8 - 1998–99 24.9 - 1999–2000 26.5 2 2000–01 27.3 154 2001–02 23.7 462 2002–03 32.1 711 An evaluation of the Smart scheme as a whole was undertaken in 2001 (the Review element of Smart was briefly touched upon as it had only just been introduced). At the time the research was undertaken annual turnover in the economy was nearly £500 million higher than it would have been without the scheme. It is also estimated that annual exports were nearly £270 million higher and employment was more than 8,000 higher.
Almost all award winners said that their projects had improved their technological knowledge/skills. Large majorities also reported quality improvements, increased investment in R and D/innovation, and an improved market position. Four in ten winners had sought further finance to enable them to introduce their products into the market. The majority of these thought that the Smart award had enabled them to do so. A copy 510W of the full evaluation is available at www.dti.gov.uk/about/evaluation (c) Innovation and Technology Programme for small businesses
The DTI does not operate a programme under this name, but does provide support for small businesses to develop innovation and technology, such as Grant for Research and Development and Grant for Investigating an Innovative Idea.
§ Brian CotterTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funding has been provided by her Department to finance(a) the Manufacturing Advisory Service, (b) the Community Development Venture Fund and (c) the Supply Chain Groups initiative since the inception of each scheme; what timescale applies to the funding in each case; and if she will make a statement on the extent to which businesses have benefited from each initiative. [145511]
§ Jacqui SmithThe following information is as follows:
(a) Manufacturing Advisory Service
The Manufacturing Advisory Service was launched in April 2002. The Department's funding commitment is £15 million over the period 2001–02 to 2004–05, as follows:
- 2001–02—£3 million
- 2002–03—£5 million
- 2003–04—£5 million
- 2004–05—£2 million
Of this sum, £13.75 million is provided to the English Regional Development Agencies and Welsh Development Agency as part-funding for the ten Regional Centres for Manufacturing Excellence through which the service is delivered. The remainder of the Department's funding has supported the development of a complementary network of centres of expertise in manufacturing, a national website, and other essential central functions.
The MAS has been a real success as a major source of advice and support for manufacturers. Since it was launched, the MAS has handled over 15,000 inquiries. Over 4,500 manufacturing firms have benefited from MAS diagnostic consultations and over 1,000 have gone on to undertake in-depth projects to drive up their productivity and competitiveness. Latest figures show that the total added value to UK firms using the service is approaching £30 million.
(b) Community Development Venture Fund
The Community Development Venture Fund (CDVF), known as the Bridges Fund, was launched on 14 May 2002 and became fully operational after a fourth and final closing in September 2002.
The Fund is a £40 million fund that was established to provide venture capital finance to viable SMEs with good growth potential in the 25 per cent. most disadvantaged wards in England. The Fund is made up of £20 million from institutional and private sector investors and £20 million from the Government to be invested alongside the private sector investors, through pound for pound matched funding. The Fund is not a Government "scheme": it is a commercially managed venture capital fund in which the Government is an investor alongside other leading private sector investors. The Fund has an investment period of up to nine years 511W although Bridges Community Ventures Ltd, the Fund Manager, expects most of the fund to be invested by the end of year five.
As at the end of December 2003, the Bridges Fund has invested over £5 million in nine SMEs with growth potential that are located in disadvantaged areas:
£million Financial Year Drawn down from DTI 2002–03 2,175,000 2003–04(as at 31.12.03) 4,193,395 (c) Supply Chain Group
The Supply Chain Group was launched in April 2003. The DTI plans to spend £15 million over five years and so far has spent £446,372.
The programme will benefit companies throughout the automotive supply chain by providing them with expert help to improve their business. Participants are invited by their industry customer, ensuring that help is targeted to the most significant suppliers. To date, 10 supply chain group projects involving 94 companies have been approved. These are long-term activities and hard data on the improvements achieved will be available towards the end of 2004. The initial feedback from participating companies has been encouraging.