§ 19. Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government towards the recent schemes set up by some local authorities in Scotland to assist small businesses.
§ Mr. Allan StewartThe Government recognise that local authorities have a valuable role to play in assisting industry in their areas. We particularly welcome support for our policy to develop the small firms sector by easing the planning regime, reducing bureaucratic burdens and where appropriate in introducing special schemes of assistance.
Local authority support for small firms should, however, be complementary to other existing forms of assistance from either the private sector or Government and their agencies in order that it does not unnecessarily increase public service manpower costs, nor displace private sector financing.