§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list those measures introduced by his Department within the past year and intended to be of benefit to small businesses.
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§ Mr. JoplingAll purchasing points within my Department have been issued with a guidance booklet entitled "Payment on Time" intended particularly to assist small suppliers.
The agricultural improvement scheme introduced on 1 October 1985 extends grant-aid on a wide range of agricultural and horticultural investments to many farmers whose enterprises were not regarded as sufficiently large to qualify under previous farm capital grant schemes.
In addition, I would draw the attention of the hon. Member to paragraphs 8.39 to 8.46 in the White Paper "Building Businesses … not Barriers" (Cmnd. 9794) which deal with measures taken or being taken in my Department to reduce burdens on businesses.