§ Mr. David ShawTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the achievements of his Department and his policies in helping small businesses over the last 12 months compared with the previous 12 months; and if he will publish the performance indicators by which his Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring.
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§ Mr. NewtonThe Government's general policy towards small businesses is to create a climate in which they can flourish and to provide measures that support and help stimulate their development.
The enterprise initiative was launched by my Department on 13 January 1988 with the aim of encouraging the process of wealth creation by stimulating individual initiative and enterprise. It comprises a number of individual initiatives covering the consultancy initiatives, research and technology, enterprise and education, regional assistance and the recently relaunched export initiative. All share the objectives of encouraging enterprise, developing management skills, promoting best practice and thereby improving competitiveness.
The consultancy initiatives form a major element of the enterprise initiative. They offer financial support to small and medium-sized firms for between five and 15 days of consultancy in the following key management areas: design, marketing, manufacturing systems, quality, business planning and financial and information systems. Independent firms with less than 500 employees in most manufacturing and service sectors in England, Scotland and Wales may benefit from up to two of the consultancy initiatives.
By 30 June 1989, a total of 29,800 applications had been received, 26,600 business reviews had been completed and 20,200 projects for assisted consultancy had been approved.
One of the main objectives of the export initiative is to assist small companies to develop their export potential. New support for small companies includes the introduction of a national network of export development advisers targeted specifically at companies in the £1 million to £10 million turnover range. It is too early to access the impact of these new measures.
Regional enterprise grants (REG) were introduced as part of the regional initiative in April 1988. They are aimed specifically at small businesses in the development areas and South Yorkshire employing fewer than 25 people, arid are designed to support their investment and innovation projects. In 1988–89, the first year of the scheme, my Department received 1,637 applications, and made 922 offers of grant with a total value of £7.7 million. The DTI, together with the Welsh and Scottish Offices, has 521W established a rolling evaluation programme for the scheme to assess the cumulative effect on recipient businesses and on the economy of eligible areas.
Yearly figures for the work of the inner cities initiative are not available. However from the time the initiative began in 1986 until the 31 March 1988, it is estimated that the task forces have, in meeting their objective of encouraging enterprise, provided support for more than 3,800 businesses the majority of which are small ones. This assistance has taken a variety of forms including loans and grants from the task force development funds.
The small firms merit award for research and technology (SMART) encourages small businesses to engage in high-risk projects in the fields of advanced manufacturing techniques, advanced materials, biotechnology and information technology.
In 1988 a total of 140 cash awards were made out of a total of 930 applications. It is too early to judge the long term effects of the scheme, but it is hoped that the eventual success rate will exceed 50 per cent. of the firms that have been supported by the scheme.
(a) (b) (c) Grants received (external financing limits) Estimated private investment attracted1 Land reclaimed (£ million) (£ million) (Acres) Black Country development corporation 25.4 99.0 104.0 Bristol development corporation 0.3 — — Central Manchester development corporation 2.5 35.0 2.5 Leeds development corporation 2.7 0.2 — London Docklands development corporation 512.4 6,857.0 1,571.0 Merseyside development corporation 189.0 44.0 704.0 Sheffield development corporation 8.0 0.4 5.0 Teesside development corporation 26.0 39.0 84.0 Trafford Park development corporation 25.5 201.0 44.0 Tyne and Wear development corporation 28.0 45.0 54.0 1 In addition to the figures quoted, there are various major investments currently in the pipeline.