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Dept of Trade and Industry

Answer

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funding has been provided by her Department to finance (a) the UK High Technology Fund, (b) the Quality Mark Scheme, (c) the Inside UK Enterprise Scheme, (d) the Construction Line Programme, (e) the Basic Technologies Programme, (f) the Construction Best Practice Programme and (g) the Foresight Programme in each financial year since the inception of each; what funding has been allocated to finance each scheme in future financial years; and if she will estimate the extent to which businesses have benefited from each initiative to date. [149448] Ms Hewitt: The following table shows the level of funding provided to 2002-03; and, the projected spend in future years. Expenditure (£ million) _________________________________________________________________________________________________. UK High Quality Mark Inside UK Construction Basic Construction Foresight Technology Enterprise Line Technologies Best Fund Practice2 1998-99 -- -- n/a -- -- n/a 1.4 1999-2000 3.0 -- n/a -- -- n/a 2.8 2000-01 17.0 n/a -- -- n/a 4.8 2001-02 0 1,2 6.7 n/a 0.2 -- 2.1 2.2 2002-03 0 1.2 0.2 -- 2.7 1.0 2003-04 0 2.0 1.2 0 0.6 2.6 1.8 2004-05 0 0 0 0 2.8 0 0 2005-06 0 0 0 0 2.4 0 0 2006-07 0 0 0 0 2.0 0 0 2007-08 0 0 0 0 0.3 0 0 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Combined expenditure 2000-03 2 Funded by former DETR 1998--June 2001 Notes: 1. Some historic expenditure data has been omitted from this reply due to the disproportionate cost of providing it. 2. Forecast expenditure reflects outstanding legal and contractual obligations. 3. All figures have been rounded to the nearest £100,000 Benefits to Business (a) UK High Technology Fund The UK High Technology fund has stimulated private sector investments of £106.1 million, against a target of £105 million, significantly increasing the amount of finance available for investment in technology-based businesses. From the total fund of £126.1million (which includes DTI investment of £20 million), over £123 million of this has, to date, been committed to nine specialist venture capital funds. These venture capital funds have in turn made investments in over 130 technology-based companies throughout the UK. (b) Quality Mark Quality Mark provides a competitive edge for accredited tradespeople by improving the information available to consumers. (c) Inside UK Enterprise In the three years to 2002, Inside UK Enterprise helped users to increase sales by around £175 million and increase profit margins by around £135 million. (d) Constructionline Constructionline streamlines procurement procedures and cuts costs by supplying the construction industry and its clients with a single national pre-qualification scheme. (e) Basic Technologies The first projects to be supported by this programme commenced in mid-2003. It is too early to estimate the benefits to businesses. (f) Construction Best Practice In 2002, businesses using Construction Best Practice increased profitability by £56 million--28 times the cost of running the scheme. Productivity also improved with each user saving an average of 12 days and £3,300. This equates to a total of £8.5 million and 60,000 days saved. It is currently estimated that in 2003, users increased their profitability by more than £100 million. (g) Foresight Between 1994 and 2001 the Foresight Programme helped Government, Research Organisations and Business prepare for the future by helping to identify potential threats and opportunities over the coming 10 to 20 years. New partnerships have been forged between business and the science base and across all sectors and disciplines to change the way business and the science base relate to each other and to the future. Organisations such as Research Councils, Training Organisations, other Government Departments and education funding bodies used the results of Foresight to set priorities for the benefit of business.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

417 c594-6W; 149448

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Business Construction Finance Government assistance Quality control Standards Technology Foresight Constructionline UK High Technology Fund Inside UK Enterprise

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk