§ Mr. David ShawTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the achievements of(a) his policies and (b) his Department in helping small businesses over the last 12 months as against 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.
§ Mr. Leigh[holding answer 22 July 1991]: The Government continue to place a high priority on helping small businesses, through improvements to the business climate, through deregulation and other measures and through specific programmes of support and assistance.
My Department provides a comprehensive package of services for business within the enterprise initiative, many of which are concerned with improving the competitiveness of smaller firms. Consultancy help, for example, offers financial support to small and medium-sized firms for between five and 15 days of consultancy in key management areas. By the end of June 1991, 84,150 applications had been received; 81,605 free business reviews commissioned; and 60,412 projects approved for assistance.
Complimentary to consultancy help is the "Managing Into the 90s" programme, which emphasises the need for an integrated approach to the management of key functions that affect company competitiveness and focuses on the management of quality, design, purchasing and manufacturing. In 1990, over 10,000 people attended events held under the programme.
Regional enterprise grants are aimed at small businesses employing fewer than 25 people in the development areas and South Yorkshire. They are designed to support companies' investment and innovation projects. The scheme was extended to the Plymouth intermediate area in January 1991 under the European Community RENAVAL programme approved for the area. In 1990–91, for English regions, 1,802 applications were received and 1,286 offers made with a total value of £11.3 million.
The small firms merit award for research and technology in an annual competition which provides cash awards to businesses with fewer than 50 employees in order to bring forward innovative technological projects of particular promise. In 1990, a record 1,420 entries resulted in 180 awards being made, the highest ever total.
In February 1991, my Department launched three new initiatives—support for products under research; manufacturing, planning and implementation studies 500W programme; and technical action line—which are designed to encourage smaller firms to innovate and also to foster links between the science base and industry. These measures are worth collectively £48 million and represent a 25 per cent. increase over DTI's annual spend on R and D and technology transfer for smaller firms.
During the last year we have continued, together with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to develop and improve the way export services are delivered. Our aim is to encourage potential exporters to think seriously about selling overseas and existing exporters to sell more. Many users of our services are small firms and we are particularly keen that help is provided to new and inexperienced exporters. In April this year the joint directorate was formed by merging the export service management units of the DTI and the FCO. The aim of this unit is to develop Government export promotion policy and ensure the coherent and consistent presentation and delivery of export services at home and overseas. At the same time, a new common identifier "overseas trade services" was introduced to cover all DTI and FCO export services. The effectiveness of the range of export services available to United Kingdom companies through this operation is monitored through an independent quality management system. Also, demand for our export services has significantly increased with sales of services having more than trebled in the past year.
In addition, smaller firms continue to be one of the priorities of my Department's single market campaign which, in particular, draws attention to the many sources of expertise, such as trade associations and chambers of commerce, that can provide relevant information and advice to help smaller firms prepare. To help such organisations improve their single market services, my Department has offered assistance under the "Help for Representative Organisations" package to more than 20 organisations. Furthermore, a total of 353,000 copies of the single market action guide for smaller firms have been distributed.
DTI regional offices serve as the initial point of entry for small business seeking the Department's help. In the past year, they have sought to reinforce their role as a gateway, not only to my Department's services, but also by signposting to services available from other small business support organisations, including training and enterprise councils, chambers of commerce and local enterprise agencies.
From 1 April this year, my Department is making available over a four year period £1.3 million to assist the development strategy of the Association of British Chambers of Commerce. This is aimed at restructuring the chamber movement by the end of 1994, with some 50 "core" chambers then offering a comprehensive range of business services to a consistent standard. It will be of particularly help to smaller firms. The assistance from my Department involves funding half of the salary costs for up to 30 two-year secondments to chambers, and a contribution towards the establishment of an electronic information network linking the "core" chambers.
It is also worth noting that in 1990–91, the inner cities initiative's task forces supported projects which have, so far, assisted 2,346 new and existing businesses, the majority of which are small ones.
The Government's deregulation initiative aims to reduce burdens on business and takes particular account of the problems with regulation faced by small firms. A 501W recent DTI publication, "Cutting Red Tape for Business", describes some recent achievements under the initiative, many of which have benefitted small businesses.
It would be prohibitively expensive to set out all the performance indicators which are collected as part of the Department's extensive professional evaluation programme, the aim of which is to ensure that the Department's activities obtain maximum value for money.