HC Deb 28 November 1995 vol 267 cc540-2W
Mr. Morgan

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the outturn figures for regional selective assistance(a) offers and (b) payments for 1994–95; and if he will indicate how these figures relate to the original budgeted plans. [2108]

Mr. Oppenheim

[holding answer 24 November 1995]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 23 November 1995, Official Report, column 255. These publications also provide information on offers.

Mrs. Roche

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the average time taken by each integrated regional office to process regional selective assistance grants to(a) all businesses and (b) small and medium enterprises in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will list the minimum and maximum time taken by those offices. [1928]

Mr. Eggar

[holding answer 27 November 1995]: Reliable data are not available on the size of businesses applying for grant. The figures provided for small and

Integrated regional offices
Working days
All businesses Small and medium enterprises
Minimum time Average time Maximum time Minimum time Average time Maximum time
East 1 26 196 1 26 196
East Midlands 2 61 253 2 61 253
London 5 45 102 5 45 102
Merseyside 5 50 237 5 50 237
North-East 1 23 187 1 23 107
North-West 1 39 222 1 39 222
South-East 2 42 173 2 42 173
South-West 1 51 135 1 51 135
West-Midlands 1 27 330 1 26 330
Yorkshire/Humberside 2 31 177 2 31 177

Mrs. Roche

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the total sum paid in regional selective assistance to(a) British-owned firms and (b) foreign-owned firms, (i) where firms had 0 to 9 employees, (ii) where firms had 10 to 49 employees, (iii) where firms had 50 to 99 employees, (iv) where firms had 100 to 249 employees, (v) where firms had 250 to 499 employees and (vi) where firms had more than 500.

Expenditure on regional selective assistance in England
Size of grant application 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93
UK owned Foreign owned UK owned Foreign owned UK owned Foreign owned
£000 Percentage £000 Percentage £000 Percentage £000 Percentage £000 Percentage £000 Percentage
£25,000 or less 6,725 98 148 2 5,266 99 58 1 4,658 98 93 2
Greater than £25,000 or less than £100,000 131,169 96 485 4 10,294 94 668 6 10,743 97 286 3
£100,000 or less than £1 million 21,485 70 8,995 30 14,069 64 7,927 36 16,562 74 5,797 26
£1 million or more 16,373 43 21,771 57 7,471 21 28,575 79 8,837 27 24,124 73
Total 57,699 65 31,399 35 37,100 50 37,228 50 40,800 57 30,300 43

Size of grant application
1993–94 1994–95
UK owned Foreign owned UK owned Foreign owned
£000 Per cent. £000 Per cent. £000 Per cent. £000 Per cent.
£25k or less 5,010 98 83 2 6,542 98 115 2
Greater than £25k or less than £100k 11,020 95 640 5 15,228 96 566 4
£100k or less than £1m 21,547 69 9,638 31 30,663 70 12,956 30
£1m or more 15,224 33 31,452 67 17,867 38 29,163 62
Total 52,801 56 41,813 44 70,300 62 42,800 38

medium-size enterprises relate to firms with grant applications for less than £1 million. Processing times are based on decision taken during 1994–95.

employees, indicating for each category what proportion this constituted of the total awarded for each financial year since 1990–91. [1929]

Mr. Page

[holding answer 27 November 1995]: Reliable data are not available on the size of businesses applying for grant. The figures provided are based on the size of the grant requested.