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Economic Downturn (Unemployment)

We are now seeing a good take-up of the scheme in the region, a matter that I was talking about to officials earlier. Obviously, I will continue to make representations to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on behalf of the region in the same way that I broker things within the region. It is a two-way process. A £10 million south-west regional loan fund has complemented that national activity. A regional finance intermediary service has been established. Work is ongoing with the banks to improve co-ordination of business support in that way. Such matters contrast with the national loan guarantee scheme proposal from the hon. Gentleman’s party, which is a £50 billion scheme with no notion of where the money will come from. It is a cloud cuckoo land policy. At the second meeting of the group that I chaired, we challenged the regional heads of the banks on their support for small business. As a result, they have committed themselves to an ongoing engagement with the Financial Services Board at a regional level. Through that work, with the regional economic task group and the support of Business Link, the South West of England Regional Development Agency and the area action forces, we provided more than £10 million in business loans and advised 6,000 businesses on everything from tax deferral to training schemes. It is worth noting that the business tax deferral scheme from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, as of 3 July this year, had more than 19,000 cases in the south-west corresponding to £287 million worth of help just within our region. It has supported more than 300 firms facing redundancy, which is what the Government mean by ““real help now””.