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2 Mar 2009 : Column 1345W—continued

Keep Our Future Afloat Campaign

Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East of 27 October 2008, Official Report, column 722W, on the Keep our Future Afloat campaign, to which bodies the North West Regional Development Agency provided funding to be used by the Keep our Future Afloat campaign. [258658]

Mr. McFadden: The north west regional development agency (NWDA) funding in support of Keep our Future Afloat Campaign (KOFAC) was paid direct to Furness Enterprise Limited who acted as Secretariat for KOFAC. Those funds were subsequently paid to the shipyard unions for KOFAC activity to attract naval jobs to the region outlined in my previous response to the right hon. Member on 12 January 2009, Official Report, column 454W.

Motor Vehicles: Industry

Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what progress his Department has made in discussions with the automotive industry on assistance for motor companies and their subsidiaries in the provision of finance for vehicle purchases. [258896]

2 Mar 2009 : Column 1346W

Ian Pearson [holding answer 26 February 2009]: My noble Friend, the Minister for Trade and Investment, is exploring what solutions can be found to enable the car finance industry to access credit. He is consulting with a range of interested parties, including the Bank of England, banks and the motor finance industry.

Ofcom: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when the Chief Executive of Ofcom will reply to the hon. Member for Weston-Super-Mare’s letters of 15 October 2008, 28 November 2008 and 5 January 2009 on behalf of his constituent, Mr Nicholas Carey-Harris. [256339]

Mr. McFadden: The Office of Communications (Ofcom) has informed me that they responded to the hon. Member’s correspondence on 10 February 2009. I understand they also contacted him to explain and apologise for the delay.

Regional Venture Capital Funds

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many firms have received funding from each of the Regional Venture Capital Funds (RVCFs) in each year since the funds were established; how much was lent by each RVCF in each of those years; how many applications for funding were declined by each RCVF in each of those years; and if he will make a statement. [253635]

Ian Pearson: The RVCF programme was introduced to help address the equity gap for small and medium sized firms with growth potential seeking investment support up to £660,000.

At the end of September 2008, regional venture capital funds (RVCF) had invested a total of £126,704,755 in 346 firms. A break down of investment by each RVCF for each year since their creation is provided in the following tables. All of the funds have now reached the close of the investment period and therefore no further new investments will be made.

Consistent data on the approaches made by firms to funds that did not receive support are not available.

RVCF investments by number of firms and amount of investment 2002-08
	2002		2003		2004		2005
RVCF	SMEs	Amount invested (£)	SMEs	Amount invested (£)	SMEs	Amount invested (£)	SMEs	Amount invested (£)
East of England	0	0	0	0	4	1,303,091	3	1,082,673
East Midlands	5	836,494	9	2,067,304	12	4,036,531	5	2,350,482
London	0	0	9	2,000,102	8	3,088,333	17	5,984,580
North East	8	1,625,102	5	1,391,790	12	2,142,490	5	1,857,500
North West	2	333,334	7	1,713,332	12	4,006,946	4	2,444,349
South East	3	399,999	18	5,300,000	5	4,424,767	5	2,097,634
South West	0	0	4	1,000,000	2	400,000	5	1,050,000
West Midlands	0	0	9	1,719,996	12	2,712,503	8	2,031,404
Yorkshire and Humber	0	0	5	1,200,000	5	1,375,000	9	2,324,454
Total	18	3,194,928	66	16,392,525	72	23,489,661	61	21,223,075

2 Mar 2009 : Column 1347W

2 Mar 2009 : Column 1348W

	2006		2007		2008		Total
RVCF	SMEs	Amount invested (£)	SMEs	Amount invested (£)	SMEs	Amount invested (£)	SMEs	Amount invested (£)
East of England	4	1,024,500	1	1,421,283	1	1,007,662	13	5,839,210
East Midlands	4	1,722,934	6	3,533,878	3	2,270,320	44	16,817,943
London	13	4,872,692	10	4,007,793	6	2,866,860	63	22,820,360
North East	4	1,013,625	3	741,668	0	399,850	37	9,172,025
North West	7	2,647,484	2	2,631,461	0	861,312	34	14,638,219
South East	7	3,061,374	6	4,218,541	1	1,375,849	45	20,878,162
South West	6	1,684,025	8	3,931,467	6	2,628,757	31	10,694,249
West Midlands	6	1,817,728	5	2,842,256	1	2,516,108	41	13,639,995
Yorkshire and Humber	2	785,906	11	3,649,889	6	2,869,342	38	12,204,591
Total	53	18,630,269	52	26,978,237	24	16,796,060	346	126,704,755

Small Business: Credit

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on access to credit for small businesses. [255830]

Ian Pearson: BERR Ministers and officials regularly have discussions with Her Majesty’s Treasury on a range of issues including access to credit for small businesses.

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how often the panel established to monitor lending to small businesses has met since it was convened. [256165]

Ian Pearson [holding answer 11 February 2009]: Officials from BERR, HMT and the Bank of England meet to monitor lending to small businesses on a monthly basis, and started in November 2008.

Small Businesses: Bank Services

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps his Department is taking to improve the flow of credit to small businesses. [253480]

Ian Pearson: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Central (Mr. Sarwar) on 5 February 2009, Official Report, column 1456W.

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