§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost has been in each of the past five years of programmes designed to start new businesses in rural communities. [71134]
§ Alun MichaelOne aim of the England Rural Development Programme is to encourage new business activity which benefits rural economies and communities. This may be helped through the expansion of existing business activity, new business activity within an existing business, or activity in a new and separate business in a rural area. There is no separate funding programme which solely targets new businesses only.
930WWithin the ERDP, the Rural Enterprise Scheme supports both farmers diversifying via new and expanded business activity, and non-farmers with projects in the rural tourism and food marketing sectors. Similarly, the Processing and Marketing Grant supports both new and expanded business activity in the processing of primary foods. Equivalent measures also exist in objective one areas. We do not have separate figures for assistance to new business start-ups and it would depend how 'new businesses' were to be defined. For example, if a farm business diversifies into running a children's nursery or selling clothes over the internet, it might either still be a single diversified farm business or the nursery and clothing sales might be considered new businesses.