§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many and what value of SMART awards were issued for each year between 1998 and 2003. [153555]
§ Nigel GriffithsThe information is as follows:
£ million Financial year Number of awards1 Value of awards1 1998–99 402 24.0 1999–2000 396 19.3 2000–01 578 28.6 2002–03 829 34.0 2003–042 618 28.5 1Offers of grant. 2To end of Q3. The figures are for offers of grant made under the Smart scheme between 1 March 1998 and 31 December 2003. Smart formally closed to applications on 31 August 2003. The new Grant for Research and Development which replaces the Smart scheme, began accepting applications on 1 June 2003.