HC Deb 29 October 2001 vol 373 cc501-2W
Mr. Jim Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is a SMART award in relation to the Small Business Service; and how the 581 companies granted the award qualified for it. [10162]

Nigel Griffiths

Small Business Service SMART awards are grants to individuals or small and medium sized businesses to help with the costs of either engaging a technology consultant or researching and developing a technologically innovative new product or process.

The successful applicants qualified for their awards by putting forward project proposals which met the selection criteria published in the Guidance Notes for Applicants. The criteria depend on the particular type of award sought and include the size of the business, the technical and commercial viability of the project proposal and the applicant, the need for the award, the level of innovation and technical risk involved in the project and the prospects for exploitation of the project outcome. Full details of SMART applications are available in the Library of the House.