Small Businesses (Hansard, 9 February 1990)

§ Mr. Eggar

My Department has made major improvements in the provision of training for small businesses with the introduction last April of business growth training (BGT). For small firms, BGT offers help for owner managers in producing better business and training plans; training for starting their own businesses; and training to improve the business skills of owner managers and to help the more ambitious achieve their plans for growth. This year BGT will offer 90,000 such opportunities to small firms. The Training Agency also sponsored the launch last month of the small business programme, and open learning initiative backed by the Open university and Cranfield School of Management.

The groundwork has been laid for the new network of training and enterprise councils which will take over responsibility from the Training Agency for planning and delivering training for, and to support the development of, small businesses. They will be responsible both for encouraging more firms to invest in training and for enterprise activities designed to strengthen local economic growth.

My Department has continued with its campaign to make Government procurement more accessible to small firms by simplifying purchasing practices and by improving their awareness of the benefits for small suppliers. We have updated the booklet "Tendering for Government Contracts" and published our advice to purchasing officers in "Think Big, Buy Small". Last December I appointed a consultant to work closely with the central unit of purchasing to further improve purchasing practices and to strengthen the monitoring of small firms involvement.

In 1988 the Government published the booklet "Prompt Payment Please" as part of an initiative to encourage good payment practice in both large and small firms and to foster closer co-operation between buyers and suppliers. The booklet gives guidance to small firms on credit management and correct invoicing and to large firms on their responsibility to suppliers, particularly small firms. It was prepared in conjunction with the CBI, the Association of British Chambers of Commerce, the Institute of Directors and the Institute of Purchasing and Supply and has met with a positive response from both the public and private sectors.

The local enterprise agency project scheme was introduced in April 1988 as part of the Action for Cities initiative. Grants have been made available to support project-based activity in approved enterprise agencies in any of the 57 urban programme authority areas. To date £729,893 has been given in support of 102 projects, with matched cash contributions of £914,734 from the private sector.

Following a review, the loan guarantee scheme was improved in January 1988 by the introduction of a simplified application procedure for loans up to £15,000. In April 1989 the loan limit was increased from £75,000 to £100,000. These changes have led to a doubling of 819W applications for usage of the scheme, which are now running at 260 per month. In addition, in June 1988 the proportion guaranteed was increased from 70 per cent. to 85 per cent. for businesses in the 16 inner-city task force areas. In 1988–89, some 2,291 loans were guaranteed to the value of £64.76 million, compared to 1,234 loans totalling £46.23 million in the previous year.