§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Paymaster General what is his estimate of the average waiting period between applying for funding from the enterprise allowance scheme and receiving the grant.
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§ Mr. TrippierIt normally takes from two to four weeks from the date an application is made to the date it is approved. The allowance is payable as soon as the business starts, which may be immediately upon approval of the application or up to six weeks later, the choice being left to the individual concerned. The first payment is made two weeks after the business has started.
§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Paymaster General for how long individuals can receive grants from the enterprise allowance scheme; and if he will give his estimate of the percentage of businesses still operating one year after the grants have stopped.
§ Mr. TrippierThe enterprise allowance is payable for a maximum period of 52 weeks. No evidence is available on the percentage of businesses still operating one year after the grant has stopped, but surveys of participants on the pilot schemes show that 77 per cent. of those taking advantage of the full year's allowance were still trading six months later and 61 per cent. two years later.
§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Paymaster General if he will list the number of persons joining the enterprise allowance scheme and the percentages of women and minorities participating in the scheme, broken down by year.
§ Mr. TrippierThe number of persons joining the enterprise allowance scheme with the percentage of women participants are as follows. No information on the percentage of minorities has been collected.
Number of participants joining Percentage of women Pilot scheme January 1982—July 1983 3,331 10 National scheme August 1983—March 1984 27,629 14.6 April 1984—March 1985 46,037 20.4 April 1985—November 1985 40,302 23.4