Small and Medium Enterprises (Hansard, 14 May 1998)

§ 22. Mr. Bob Russell
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action her Department is taking to encourage new sources of long-term capital for small and medium enterprises. [40974]

§ Mrs. Roche
The Government are very keen to ensure that small and medium enterprises have access to appropriate finance for their needs. We continue to work in partnership with the private sector providers of finance, including the banks, venture capitalists and the business angel market, to explore new ways of providing long-term finance.

§ 31. Mr. Bill O'Brien
To ask the President of the Board of Trade when she last met representatives of small and medium British businesses to discuss competitiveness; and if she will make a statement. [40984]

§ Mrs. Roche
Competitiveness is at the heart of the department's policies. My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade meets small business representatives to ensure that their needs are fully taken into consideration when formulating new policy.
As part of this process my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade established an Advisory Group on Competitiveness, whose members include representatives of the small business community.

§ 36. Mr. Coaker
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action she is taking to encourage EU support for small and medium enterprises. [40990]

§ Mrs. Roche
The Government recognise the important contribution that SMEs make to EU competitiveness and support effective action at European level to provide an environment in which SMEs can compete and grow. To help ensure this I maintain close contact with the Commission and with my counterparts in other EU Member States on a range of issues affecting SMEs.
SMEs have been a key feature of the UK's Presidency of the EU. We have secured agreement on the package of financial measures for job-creating SMEs adopted at the Luxembourg Job Summit, held a discussion at the Industry Council on the Commission's proposals for a Directive on late payment and hosted the Enterprising Europe Conference at which delegates from all Member States considered ways of promoting entrepreneurship in the EU. The Cardiff European Council will consider the report of the Business Environment Simplification Taskforce which the Commission set up at the request of the Amsterdam European Council to identify barriers to growth and job creation faced by SMEs.