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Session
X
2003-04
Type
House
Session
Year
Department
Member
Primary member
Answering member
Legislative stage
Legislation
Subject
Publisher
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what funding her Department provides for (a) enterprise grants that are delivered to businesses in the regions by the Small Business Service, (b) the STEP programme, (c) the Faraday Partnership scheme and (d) the Manufacturing Advisory scheme in each year...
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what funding her Department provides for (a) enterprise grants that are delivered to businesses in the regions by the Small Business Service, (b) the STEP programme, (c) the Faraday Partnership scheme and (d) the Manufacturing Advisory scheme in each year...
Asked by
Lord Cotter
(Liberal Democrat)
Answered by
Nigel Griffiths
(Labour)
Answering body
Department of Trade and Industry
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
18 December 2003
For answer on
12 January 2004
Answered on
12 January 2004
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funding her Department provides for (a) enterprise grants
that are delivered to businesses in the regions by the Small Business Service, (b) the STEP programme, (c) the Faraday Partnership
scheme and (d) the Manufacturing Advisory scheme in each year since inception of the scheme; what timescale applies to the funding
in each case; and if she will make a statement on the extent to which businesses have benefited from each initiative. [145483]
Nigel Griffiths: The information is as follows:
(a) Enterprise Grants
Enterprise Grants are available to small and medium- sized businesses based in the Enterprise Grant Areas of England. Projects can
involve expanding, modernising or restructuring an existing business, or setting up a new one. The maximum grant available is
£75,000 on projects with up to £500,000 capital investment.
The Enterprise Grant scheme was allocated a budget of £45 million between January 2000 and March 2003. The scheme deadline has been
extended to March 2004 and in England, to date, small businesses have benefited from the scheme as follows:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________.
Expenditure (£)
2000-01 3,758,000
2001-02 10,200,000
2002-03 11,800,000
_________________________________________________________________________________________________.
The report covering the Regional Selective Assistance scheme, was undertaken in 2002 and found that businesses who benefited from
Enterprise Grant were able to invest in projects that enabled them to increase their productivity and profitability and raise their
skills levels, in areas of England that would not normally attract capital investment. By offering a grant of 15 per cent., we
encourage private investment covering 85 per cent. of the capital investment costs, again in areas that traditionally struggle to
gain investment finance.
(b) STEP
For STEP (the Shell Technology Enterprise Programme), DTI has contributed approximately £0.68 million in 2003-04 and intends to fund
STEP at about this level in 2004-05. An exit survey of businesses that participated in STEP in 2003 showed that: 94 per cent. of
host company managers stated that their STEP project would have a positive impact on their business's future performance; 94 per
cent. said their expectations had been met or exceeded (38 per cent. exceeded); 89 per cent. of companies believe the benefits of
their STEP project either equalled or exceeded the cost of taking part; and 68 per cent. thought the project contributed to new
processes or procedures within their business.
(c) Faraday Partnerships
Faraday Partnerships aim to bring new products and processes, based on the UK science base, to the market more effectively. DTI and
the Research Councils support 23 of the 24 Faraday Partnerships: the other is supported by the Scottish Executive and Defra. DTI
spend on Faraday Partnerships to date has been:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________.
Expenditure (£)
2000-01 1,915,311
2001-02 3,351,631
2002-03 5,903,343
2003-041 2,904,500
Total 14,074,786
_________________________________________________________________________________________________.
1 First two quarters.
Based on a five-year business plan, DTI offers each Faraday Partnership up to £400,000 per year for an initial three years. Subject
to an interim review of the Partnership's progress, further support may be made available, but on a tapered basis.
In 2002-03, Faraday Partnerships managed research portfolios totalling over £101 million; over 1,700 firms and nearly 400 University
research teams are actively involved.
Initial studies of the impact of the Faraday Partnerships on business have revealed the following generic effects: more focussed
application of research results to new products in many fields; greater understanding of global competitiveness and winning new
business; opportunities for SMEs to work with universities and large firms; improvements in manufacturing efficiency and marketing;
and new networks linking businesses and researchers.
(d) Manufacturing Advisory Service
The Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) was launched in April 2002. The Department's funding commitment is £15 million over the
period 2001-02 to 2004-05, as follows:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________.
£ million
2001-02 3
2002-03 5
2003-04 5
2004-05 2
_________________________________________________________________________________________________.
Of this sum, £13.75 million is provided to the English Regional Development Agencies and Welsh Development Agency as part-funding
for the 10 Regional Centres for Manufacturing Excellence through which the service is delivered. The remainder of the Department's
funding has supported the development of a complementary network of centres of expertise in manufacturing, a national website, and
other essential central functions.
The DTI sees the MAS as a real success as a major source of advice and support for manufacturers. Since it was launched, the MAS has
handled over 15,000 inquiries. Over 4,500 manufacturing firms have benefited from MAS diagnostic consultations and over 1,000 have
gone on to undertake in-depth projects to drive up their productivity and competitiveness. Latest figures show that the total added
value to UK firms using the service is approaching £30 million.
Subjects
Finance; Grants; Small businesses; Small Business Service; Manufacturing Advisory Service; Faraday partnership scheme; Shell technology enterprise programme
Date
12 January 2004
Reference
145483; 416 c506-8W
House
House of Commons