Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Julian Smith (Conservative) on Friday, 8 October 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 12 October 2010. It was answered by Mark Prisk (Conservative) on Monday, 18 October 2010 on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Business Links: Skipton

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses operating in Skipton and Ripon constituency have (a) contacted, (b) applied for support and (c) received support from Business Link in each of the last five years.
Answer

Applications to Business Link for support are not recorded on a constituency basis. However, figures are available for the Craven and Harrogate local authority areas in North Yorkshire. Skipton is a parish within the Craven district and Ripon is a parish within the borough of Harrogate. The number of businesses accessing support from Business Link Yorkshire in the Craven and Harrogate local authority areas in each of the last five years is as follows:

Reporting period Number of businesses contacted Business Link Number of businesses that received intensive assistance from an adviser
April 2010 to September 2010 1,861 378
April 2009 to March 2010 7,721 808
April 2008 to March 2009 7,006 343
April 2007 to March 2008 5,713 326
April 2006 to March 2007 5,505 209

Other types of support received by SMEs via Business Link in the last five years are as follows:

Innovation Vouchers¹ Events² Skills
April 2010 to September 2010 4— 1,346 To June 2010, 13 learners from 54 business were supported
April 2009 to March 2010 4— 3,232 554 learners from 201 businesses were supported with their skills needs by Business Link Yorkshire
April 2008 to March 2009 n/a 2,392 n/a
April 2007 to March 2008 n/a n/a n/a
April 2006 to March 2007 n/a n/a n/a
¹ £3,000 of financial support plus assistance in finding the right academic from the region's universities and knowledge institutions
² Offering free information and advice to businesses
³ Training support
4 24 businesses in Harrogate and 12 in Craven have been awarded an Innovation Voucher since their launch in January 2009

Up to March 2008 the service provider was Business Link North Yorkshire and from April 2008 it was Y&H IDB Ltd. The service provider prior to April 2008 has now ceased trading and therefore it has not been possible to gather all the information requested.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
17193; 516 c596-8W
Session
2010-12
Subjects
Business links Skipton and Ripon
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk