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19 Jan 2004 : Column 1042W—continued
Research and Development Tax Credits
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what new (a) products, (b) services and (c) processes have been developed by firms benefiting from the introduction of research and development tax credits in each year since their introduction. [148183]
Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
This information is not available. Companies are not required to agree specific products or processes in advance with the Inland Revenue in order to claim research and development tax credits. So far there have been 8,000 claims and over 6,000 companies have benefited from research and development tax credits.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much money has been spent on research and development tax credits in each quarter since their introduction. [148184]
Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
The available data on the cost of the research and development tax credits provided to SMEs, by quarter, are set out as follows. The costs are on a receipts basis, showing when the cost has been incurred by the Inland Revenue, we expect costs in the latest quarters to increase as further claims are received. Information on claims from large companies is not yet available.
19 Jan 2004 : Column 1043W
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2000 | |
| Q2 | 6,297 |
| Q3 | 747 |
| Q4 | 73,685 |
| 2001 | |
| Q1 | 913,963 |
| Q2 | 5,087,103 |
| Q3 | 12,857,568 |
| Q4 | 23,443,820 |
| 2002 | |
| Q1 | 29,210,686 |
| Q2 | 44,627,755 |
| Q3 | 47,382,286 |
| Q4 | 66,392,398 |
| 2003 | |
| Q1 | 75,042,704 |
| Q2 | 69,326,644 |
| Q3 | 67,097,095 |
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many companies have benefited from research and development tax credits in each quarter since their introduction. [148185]
Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
We do not have figures for the number of companies that have claimed the research and development tax credit by quarter, although we had over 8,000 individual claims and over 6,000 individual companies have benefited since the tax credits were introduced. The available figures for the number of claims received from SME's so far for research and development tax credits, by quarter, are set out as follows. Information on claims from large companies is not yet available. Claims are made by companies retrospectively and therefore we expect the number of claims in later quarters to increase further as more claims as received.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2000 | |
| Q2 | 185 |
| Q3 | 271 |
| Q4 | 644 |
| 2001 | |
| Q1 | 668 |
| Q2 | 530 |
| Q3 | 589 |
| Q4 | 1,219 |
| 2002 | |
| Q1 | 936 |
| Q2 | 767 |
| Q3 | 766 |
| Q4 | 1,195 |
| 2003 | |
| Q1 | 434 |
| Q2 | 143 |
| Q3 | 27 |
19 Jan 2004 : Column 1044W
Post Offices
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the progress of (a) the network reinvention programme and (b) the rural subsidy for sub-post offices. [146486]
Mr. Timms: Post Office Ltd. (POL) reports on the urban reinvention programme on a quarterly basis. As at the end of December 2003:
- 694 offices had closed under the programme (with payments to sub-postmasters totalling £38,111,410);
46 proposals had been withdrawn or delayed for reworking during the advance notification process agreed with the consumer body Postwatch;
a further 66 proposals had been withdrawn or amended as a result of the public consultation. POL had approved 388 applications totalling £1.3 million for investment grants to modernise remaining post offices.
Call Centres
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what Government support is available for the setting up of call centres, with particular reference to rural areas. [146487]
Mr. Timms: There is no specific Government support for the setting up of call centres in rural areas. However there is a range of business support available in certain circumstances including regional selective assistance (RSA). RSA is available to support investment and the creation or safeguarding of jobs in the assisted areas for viable projects that benefit regional and national economies and which without RSA would not go ahead.
The DTI invests £l billion a year in support of business and of that sum £400–500 million is spent on business support schemes. RSA with an annual budget of £110 million is one of the largest business support schemes. Our aim is to use this money in a way that ensures the best possible return on investment for the UK and makes a real difference to business performance.
Small Business
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will break down how funding allocated as other support for small business has been awarded in 2003–04; and what amounts were allocated in each year since 1997. [147794]
Nigel Griffiths: I refer the hon. Member to Chapter 8 of the DTI Departmental Report 2003(Cm 5916) which
19 Jan 2004 : Column 1045W
sets out expenditure on small business programmes as a whole; and in particular to figure 8.5 on page 104 of that report (reproduced below). The figures in the table
19 Jan 2004 : Column 1046W
below incorporate those in Annex Bl on page 207 of the Report, including funding allocated as Other Support for Small Business.
| 2001–02 Outturn | 2002–03 Working Provision | 2003–04 Plans | 2004–05 Plans | 2005–06 Plans | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Business Service (and corresponding earlier activity) | 274.8 | 423.4 | 404.8 | 367.0 | 387.0 |
| Of which: Local Network(23) | 141.2 | 143.4 | 144.0 | 144.0 | 144.0 |
| Farm Business Advice Service (gross) | 4.8 | 7.5 | 2.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Business Link call handling and website | 9.2 | 21.4 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| Business .Gov | 0 | 6.3 | 7.7 | 15.0 | 35.0 |
| Phoenix Fund | 12.9 | 35.0 | 30.0 | 25.0 | 25.0 |
| DTI spend on TCS and STEP | 13.7 | 17.2 | 18.5 | 18.5 | 18.5 |
| Enterprise Fund (including SFLGS net) | 39.2 | 93.9 | 87.5 | 87.5 | 87.5 |
| Smart | 23.7 | 27.0 | 27.0 | 27.0 | 27.0 |
| Enterprise Grants | 0 | 17.0 | 24.0 | 24.0 | 24.0 |
| Business Incubation Fund | 0 | 20.0 | 25.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Support | 30.1 | 34.7 | 26.8 | 14.0 | 14.0 |
(23) The Local Network includes Start-ups; Core Services funding; and Local Network Development.
Similar information on expenditure on small business and enterprise is contained within corresponding reports for earlier years (Cm 5416; Cm 5112; Cm 4611; Cm 4211), although direct comparisons may be inappropriate due to departmental reorganisation. The outturn for those years was as follows:
| 1997–98Outturn | 1998–99 Outturn | 1999–00 Outturn | 2000–01 Outturn |
|---|---|---|---|
| 171.3 | 152.0 | 194.1 | 277.2 |
Spectrum Efficiency Scheme
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will break down how funding for the Spectrum Efficiency Scheme has been allocated since the scheme's inception; and what amounts have been allocated in each year since 1997. [147793]
Mr. Timms: Arrangements for the Spectrum Efficiency Scheme were agreed between DTI and Treasury in 2002. Only one year of funding for 2003–04 was agreed at the time owing to the transfer of the Radiocommunications Agency's functions into Ofcom.
The Spectrum Efficiency Scheme had an annual budget of £5 million in 2003–04 as agreed in the 2000 Spending Review. There are two components to this budget; (1) compensation payments for spectrum replanning and (2) research.
No compensation payments were made during 2003–04 but research contracts were let to the value of £2,866,000.
Details of the contracts awarded in 2003–04 are available on the Ofcom website(http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/ra/rahome.hto
A call for expressions of interest in the research element of the 2004–05 Spectrum Efficiency Scheme has just been announced by Ofcom. The budget of £5 million is expected to be shared between compensation payments for spectrum replanning, and research.
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