Written question asked by Lindsay Hoyle (Labour) on Wednesday, 21 January 1998, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 27 January 1998. It was answered by Barbara Roche (Labour) on Tuesday, 27 January 1998 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Dept of Trade and Industry

Question: To ask the President of the Board of Trade, what assistance her Department is giving to research and development in the north-west. - Inc figures.

Answer: Mr. Hoyle: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assistance her Department is giving to research and development in the north-west. [25411] Mrs. Roche: The DTI is assisting research and development in the north-west primarily through the new SMART initiative, aimed at helping small and medium sized enterprises (SME) to improve their competitiveness by developing new products and processes to the benefit of the national economy. £3.98 million has been offered since 1 April 1997 in the north-west alone (excluding Merseyside). Nationally, DTI provides assistance under the LINK scheme. Since 1988 the Government has spent over £13 million supporting LINK projects in the north-west out of its total commitment of over £18 million. Other indirect assistance includes joint working with the North West Partnership to produce a Regional Innovation and Technology Action Plan; funding for the North West Regional Industrialist; support for Faraday/Foresight NW; the Teaching Company Scheme; the Post Graduate Training Partnership and College Business Partnerships.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 305 c162W; 25411
Session: 1997-98
Subjects: Industry Government assistance Research North West LINK programme SMART awards
Contains statistics: Yes