§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the Small Business Service has cost in each year since it was established and how many people it employed in each year. [152047]
§ Nigel GriffithsThe administration cost of the Small Business Service for each year since it was established, is shown in the following table with the people employed each year. These figures are in the Small Business Service published accounts available in the Libraries of the House.
£000 People (average full time equivalent) Comment 2000–01 10,195 203 Excluding agency staff and secondments 2001–02 13,420 284 Excluding agency staff and secondments 2001–02 13,420 326 Revised to include agency staff and secondments 2002–03 18,012 440 Includes agency staff and secondments Notes:
1. We have interpreted the question as being about how much the small business service costs to run (£18 million in 2002–03), rather than the cost of the programmes it delivers (outturn £354 million in 2002–03).
2. The total cost of running the SBS reported in the accounts includes not only the administration budget from DTI (outturn £11.5 million in 2002–03) which covers staff in London and Sheffield, and Directors for the regions, but also the cost of the regional teams, SBS's share of DTI central services and accommodation costs.
3. The leap in administration costs from 2001–02 (£13 million) to 2002–03 (£18 million) is due to the transfer of 94 staff (full-time equivalents) from Government Offices to SBS regional teams, and to a rise in accommodation costs.