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4 Mar 2004 : Column 1072W—continued

Business Support

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many firms have been helped by the Small Firms Loan Guarantee scheme since its introduction. [157192]

Nigel Griffiths: Since the Small Firms Loan Guarantee began in June 1981, up to the end of January 2004, 88744 loans have been guaranteed. Some small firms may have benefited from more than one loan.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much money has been spent on (a) grants for research and development, (b) grants for investigating an innovative idea and (c) knowledge transfer partnerships since they were introduced; and of each total, how much has been spent on administration. [157193]

Mr. Timms: (a) and (b) expenditure for the Grant for R and D and Grant for III from 1 June 2003 to 31 January 2004 is as follows:

	Programme spend (£)	Administration(3)(£)
Grant for R and D	950,000
Grant for Investigating an Innovative Idea	270,000	3,189,000
Former Smart scheme(3)	32,768,000

⁽³⁾ From 1 April 2003 to 31 January 2004

Note:

Administration of all three programmes is unified.

(c) Since Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (including the former TCS programmes) were introduced approximately £20.5 million has been spent. The administration costs to date are approximately £1.75 million.

Business Support Schemes

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 5 February 2004, Official Report, column 998W, on business support schemes, if she will list the (a) service costs to run and (b) cost of the programme delivered by (i) the Small Firms Loan Guarantee, (ii) Grant for Research and Development, (iii) Grant for Investigating an Innovative idea and (iv) Knowledge Transfer Partnerships between 2003–07. [155357]

Nigel Griffiths: The forecast costs of the new Business Support Products for the financial years 2003–04 and for

4 Mar 2004 : Column 1073W

2004–05 are listed in the table below. Allocations for future years will be agreed as part of the 2004 Spending Review process. Grant for Research and Development and Grant for Investigating an Innovative Idea were introduced on 1 June 2003 to replace and enhance the

4 Mar 2004 : Column 1074W

Smart scheme. Since that date administration of all three has been unified and it is not possible to apportion service costs between them. The same applies to Knowledge Transfer Partnerships which was introduced in 1 June 2003 to replace TCS.

£ million

	2003–04	2003–04	2004–05	2004–05
Business support product	Service costs	Cost of programme	Service costs	Cost of programme
Small Firms Loan Guarantee	0.702	52.85	0.702	65
Grant for Research and Development (including Smart)	3.83	40	3.83	26
Grant for Investigating an Innovative Idea		0.6		3
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (formerly TCS)	2.4	25. 6	2.4	25. 6

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2004, Official Report, column 998W, on business support schemes, (1) if she will list the new business support products that are due to be made available in April; and how much money is to be spent on these products;. [157178]

(2) she will list the new products that have replaced business support schemes that are (a) already in place and (b) to be introduced this year; and what the projected cost is of each product. [157224]

Ms Hewitt: Four new business support products are already in place. These are: Grant for Investigating an Innovative Idea, Grant for Research and Development, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, and Small Firms Loan Guarantee.

Five further new business support products will be introduced in the first half of this year. These are Knowledge Transfer Networks, Grant for Collaborative Research and Development, Access to Best Business Practice, Support to Implement Best Business Practice, and Finance to encourage investment in specific areas of England.

The timing of the introduction of the tenth business support product, Enterprise Capital Fund, is dependent upon the current notification to the European Commission for State Aids Clearance.

The Department's annual expenditure on each product will be kept under review by the Investment Committee to ensure products' impact on productivity and value for money.

The Business Cases presented to the Investment Committee currently project expenditure to be as follows:

	£ million
Grant for Collaborative Research and Development	134
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships	36
Grant for Research and Development	(4)33
Knowledge Transfer Networks	17
Grant for Investigating an Innovative Idea	3
Small Firms Loan Guarantee	49
Access to Best Business Practice	10
Support to Implement Best Business Practice	20
Finance to encourage investment in specific areas (provisional title)	125
	Enterprise Capital Fund   Subject to EU notification

⁽⁴⁾ £100 million over three years

Call Centres

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on (a) call centres and (b) call centre jobs in (i) the North West and (ii) Lancashire. [157083]

Ms Hewitt: The Government is well aware of the heightened interest and concerns expressed about the offshoring of UK service operations, including call centre operations. My Department has commissioned research on the key factors contributing to the relative competitiveness of UK call centre operations to help identify any appropriate actions which need to be taken by industry or Government in response to the increasingly global market for call centre services. This will include an examination of the main product areas in the UK call and contact centre industry that are vulnerable to growing competition from lower-wage economies, which types of call and contract centre activity and which regions have been most affected or are most likely to be affected in the near future.

The North West Development Agency is working with the University of Central Lancashire and a wide range of other private and public sector partners on a new initiative, Call North West, in an aim to drive up the skills and productivity of the region's contact centres. Call North West will be formally launched on 24 March.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many jobs in (a) the north west and (b) Lancashire in call centres have relocated abroad in each of the last three years. [157084]

Ms Hewitt: Existing information does not enable us to provide reliable figures. Official statistics do not generally separate call centre activities from the main activity of a firm or enterprise (e.g. banking). The term "call centre" can be used to describe a broad variety of functions and activities across a wide range of commercial, industrial and public sectors. Difficulties and differences in definition are reflected in commercial market research on call centres where estimates on the number of call centres and call centre employees vary substantially.

Colombia

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what support her Department has

4 Mar 2004 : Column 1075W

offered to BP for its exploration activities in Colombia; and what meetings have been held with company representatives in the last six months. [157711]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Through the British embassy in Bogota, in particular, UK Trade and Investment offers a range of services to UK exporters and to UK investors in Colombia. While London based officials have had little contact with BP there, officials in Bogota have regular contact with the company (the largest foreign investor in Colombia) on a range of issues of mutual interest. In October 2003, the embassy's First Secretary (Trade and Investment) made an introductory call on the new company president offering support to their activities in Colombia and, in February, the ambassador hosted a dinner, offered to the Minister of Mines and Energy where BP's president, and heads of other British companies were present.

Further meetings at various levels will continue to be held with BP over the coming months.

Enterprise Culture

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions her Department has had with (a) other Government departments and (b) the EU to develop a strategy promoting an enterprise culture. [157235]

Nigel Griffiths: The Small Business Service has recently co-ordinated and published a cross government action plan for small business based around seven strategic themes, one of which relates to the development of an enterprise culture. The development of that strategic theme involved discussions with a number of other departments, including the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Education and Skills, and the Home Office.

At EU level, we responded to the European Commission's Green Paper on Entrepreneurship at the end of June 2003, including references to actions which could raise the level of awareness of enterprise, such as an enterprise day or week across the EU, which would complement the UK strategy.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what initiatives her Department is supporting to encourage entrepreneurial attitudes among young people; what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Education and Skills about building enterprise awareness in schools and universities; and whether her Department expects to implement the recommendations of the Davies review on enterprise activity offered to pupils by 2005–06. [157236]

Ms Hewitt: The DTI has supported Enterprise Insight in developing a national campaign to promote enterprise to young people and those who influence them (including teachers, careers advisers etc). This campaign will have as its focal point an annual Enterprise Week the first of which will be from 15 to 21 November this year. Enterprise Week will include national and regional activities and celebrations of entrepreneurial achievement.

The DTI also supports the activities of Young Enterprise, in offering young people practical experience of what enterprise entails through simulated

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entrepreneurial situations. Specifically, through the SBS it supports YE's Graduate Programme, Masterclass and Innovation Awards.

The DTI is also working closely with the DfES and the Treasury in taking forward the recommendations of the Davies Review. From 2005–06 all Key Stage 4 pupils will receive the equivalent of 5 days enterprise activity, which develops enterprise capability—innovation, creativity, risk-management and risk-taking, and financial and business understanding. 151 Enterprise Pathfinder projects were launched last September, covering nearly 400 secondary schools in England, from which DfES will derive guidance for all schools prior to launching the £60 million enterprise education entitlement in September 2005. A second wave of Pathfinders will start in September 2004.

The two Departments are also supporting the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship. Building on existing good practice, the aims of the council will be to raise the profile of entrepreneurship and starting a business as a career option within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), including both universities and other higher education establishments, with the objective of increasing the numbers of students and graduates who give serious thought to this. It will therefore work with all interested parties to encourage and create an entrepreneurial culture amongst students and graduates.

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