§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Truro and St. Austell constituency, the effects on Truro and St. Austell of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997.[154530]
§ Mr. CabornThe Department has provided the following support for businesses in Truro and St. Austell constituency since May 1997.
Regional Selective Assistance (RSA)
RSA is a capital investment grant linked to the creation or safeguarding of jobs in designated areas of need (the Assisted Areas). Two RSA grant offers totalling £0.675 million have been made to businesses in the Truro and St. Austell constituency, to support projects with a total capital expenditure of £7.3 million, and to create and safeguard a total of 163 jobs. The whole of the constituency is included in the new Assisted Areas map effective from July 2000; only parts of the constituency were included in the previous map.
Enterprise Grants
The Enterprise Grants scheme is a simplified scheme that was introduced in April 2000 to help small firms undertake fixed capital investment projects. Two offers totalling £0.024 million have been made to firms in the Truro and St. Austell constituency.
Smart
Smart awards are designed to help small firms with the introduction of new products and processes. Two Smart awards totalling £0.07 million have been made to firms in the Truro and St. Austell constituency.
Business Link
PROSPER Business Link has provided services to small businesses in the Truro and St. Austell constituency since 1997. These include general and specialised advice to help businesses grow, export development counselling, ICT advice, and a full range of specialist information. From April 2001 these services will be provided by the Small Business Service operating through a franchise awarded to a PROSPER led partnership. This new service will be more customer focused ensuring that services are driven by local need.