§ Mr. Maloneasked the Paymaster General what evidence is available on the longer term success of enterprise allowance scheme businesses; and what steps are taken to help those businesses prosper.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeLatest survey evidence shows that over three in five of those people taking advantage of the full 12 months' enterprise allowance are still trading three years after setting up in business and on average every 100 of these businesses have created 99 additional jobs. This is a very satisfactory success rate for a scheme which assists people who have been unemployed for some months to set up new businesses of their own.
92WPeople on the scheme are entitled to take advantage of free business start-up training provided by the Manpower Services Commission. They also have access to free advice and counselling from the small firms service. Some local enterprise agencies have also been providing support. Despite the success of the scheme in stimulating self-employment and new enterprises, we believe that its success could be further improved if there were a greater take-up of the training and counselling services available. I have therefore asked the Manpower Services Commission to look urgently at ways of increasing take-up. I particularly believe that local enterprise agencies can make a bigger contribution in advice and counselling for these new businesses.