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Written question asked by Iain Wright (Labour) on Friday, 6 January 2017, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 10 January 2017. It was answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone (Conservative) on Wednesday, 11 January 2017 on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Small Business Research Initiative

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the (a) increase in sales, (b) additional investment attracted, (c) creation of jobs and (d) creation of intellectual property resulting from the work of the Small Business Research Initiative in each year since that body was established.

Answer

We do not currently hold data on individual firms. However, we do hold information on the number of contracts awarded under the scheme.

Firms are awarded Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) funding through contracts on a competitive basis in two phases:

(i) Phase 1, which typically provides up to £100,000 for companies to test the feasibility of their ideas;

(ii) Phase 2, which typically provides up to £1,000,000 for companies to develop a prototype or demonstrator.

The details of Phase 1 and Phase 2 SBRI contracts awarded are below:

2009/10

2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

Phase 1

340

164

246

313

327

418

268

Phase 2

93

21

28

106

55

96

55

On 21 November, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced that she had asked David Connell from the Centre for Business Research at the Cambridge Judge Business School to review the Small Business Research Initiative.

The review is examining how we can maximise the impact of the SBRI programme to improve procurement outcomes for government, support and stimulate innovation by SMEs.

The review will report in spring this year.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
58785
Session
2016-17
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Small Business Research Initiative
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk