§ Mr. David Shawasked the Minister of Agriculture,Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the achievements of his Department in helping small businesses over the last three years; and if he will publish the performance indicators by which his Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe Government have introduced a variety of measures that are of particular benefit to smaller farm businesses. These measures include
the introduction of the agricultural improvement scheme in October 1985 which provides grant aid for a wide range of agricultural and horticultural investments. This is of particular help to small and medium sized businesses, many of which were not regarded as sufficiently large to qualify under previous capital grant schemes. The effectiveness of the scheme may be judged by the number of farmers and growers who benefit from it, the expenditure already incurred and the commitment to future expenditure. Information on achievements is expected to be published in the next annual public expenditure White Paper;arrangements to restore the milk quota received by producers with less than 200,000 litres of quota to their pre-quota level and making direct compensation payments in 1984–85 and 1985–86 to alleviate the effect of the milk co-responsibility levy on small-scale producers;obtaining £3.4 million of EC aid to offset the effect of the cereals co-responsibility levy on small producers; the reform of capital transfer tax to abolish the tax on capital gifts made between individuals during their lifetime;new opportunities for diversification with grant available for ancillary businesses on or adjacent to farms;the extension of the less favoured areas in 1984 and the introduction of environmentally sensitive areas;plans to increase the activities of the Agricultural Training Board in rural areas under the extended scope provided by the Agricultural Training Board Act 1987; grants to agricultural and horticultural co-operatives to improve the marketing of produce and to forage groups in less favoured areas. During the last three years these grants have amounted to more than £15 million.I would also draw the attention of my hon. Friend to paragraphs 7.43 to 7.50 in the progress report on deregulation "Encouraging Enterprise" presented by the Secretary of State for Employment in May. These and relevant paragraphs in the two preceding White Papers on deregulation show the attention being given in my Department to reducing burdens on businesses. In addition, all purchasing points have been issued with a guidance booklet entitled "Payment on Time" intended 678W particularly to assist small suppliers, and, as part of the Ministry's purchasing strategy, we are developing improved and closer relationships with small suppliers in order to stimulate competitiveness and innovation.
Monitoring and control systems, output measures, and performance indicators across the whole range of my Ministry's activities are being developed. Such information relevant to small businesses that is currently available has been set out in this reply.