HC Deb 19 December 2001 vol 377 cc469-70W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the funding of Business Links by area in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. [11848]

Nigel Griffiths

Business Links exist and operate only in England. There are 45 Business Link operators, appointed by the Small Business Service (SBS), operating in 45 designated areas throughout England.

Business Link operators receive a grant from SBS in the form of a Core Services allocation, which funds the core business support services that the BL operator is obliged to deliver under the terms of their agreement. Other funding is provided by the SBS to deliver specialist services like the UK Online for Business, Local Partnership Fund and High Growth Start-ups programmes, these funds are allocated at regional level.

The table provides a breakdown of Core Services allocations to BL operators by SBS area for the 2001–02 financial year.

Core Services allocations 2001–02
Allocation (£) Percentage
Total 130,000,000 100
South East (6)
Berkshire 2,322,684 1.8
Sussex 4,165,051 3.2
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 4,660,054 3.6
Kent 3,967,756 3.1
Oxfordshire, Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire 3,772,524 2.9
Surrey 3,386,962 2.6
Total 22,275,032 17.1
London (1)
London 22,537,065 17.3
East (6)
Bedfordshire 1,438,456 1.1
Cambridgeshire 1,888,331 1.5
Essex 4,194,360 3.2
Hertfordshire 2,982,289 2.3
Norfolk 2,144,482 1.6
Suffolk 1,829,953 1.4
Total 14,477,870 11.1
South West (6)
Dorset 1,938,794 1.5
Devon and Cornwall 4,161,670 3.2
Gloucestershire 1,595,518 1.2
Somerset 1,371,800 1.1
West 2,528,148 1.9
Wiltshire and Swindon 1,577,421 1.2
Total 13,173,352 10.1

Core services allocations 2001–02
Allocation (£) Percentage
West Midlands (6)
Birmingham and Solihull 2,789,038 2.1
Coventry and Warwickshire 2,029,638 1.6
Herefordshire and Worcestershire 1,970,340 1.5
Shropshire 1,159,965 0.9
Staffordshire 2,502,982 1.9
The Black Country 2,600,619 2.0
Total 13,052,581 10.0
East Midlands (5)
Derbyshire 2,298,793 1.8
Leicestershire 2,323,081 1.8
Lincolnshire and Rutland 1,813,842 1.4
Northamptonshire 1,562,786 1.2
Nottinghamshire 2,388,656 1.8
Total 10,387,158 8.0
Yorkshire and The Humber (4)
Humber 2,186,000 1.7
North Yorkshire 2,144,061 1.6
South Yorkshire 2,784,477 2.1
West Yorkshire 4,893,163 3.8
Total 12,007,701 9.2
North West (7)
Cheshire and Warrington 2,316,044 1.8
Manchester CBS 3,509,113 2.7
Cumbria 1,356,861 1.0
East Lancashire 1,230,138 0.9
North Manchester CBS 2,661,103 2.0
Merseyside 3,264,255 2.5
North and West Lancashire 2,315,636 1.8
Total 16,653,150 12.8
North East (4)
County Durham 1,038,692 0.8
Northumberland 754,893 0.6
Tees Valley 1,355,003 1.0
Tyne and Wear 2,287,504 1.8
Total 5,436,092 4.2