| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
20 July 2009 : Column 1102W—continued
Business: Empty Property
Mr. Binley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what his most recent estimate is of the number of empty business properties there are in each constituency in England. [286596]
Ms Rosie Winterton: These data are not available at constituency level.
Business: Government Assistance
Mr. Newmark: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses have received assistance from the Working Capital Guarantee Scheme; and how much funding has been committed to date. [259010]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 26 February 2009]: The Working Capital Scheme (WCS) is not available directly to businesses. The scheme enables participating banks to increase the amount of working capital they can make available to businesses.
By guaranteeing portfolios of working capital facilities, this will release regulatory capital held by the banks against these portfolios. The banks have agreed they will make commitments to re-deploy this capital in order to increase all types of lending to small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) and mid-sized corporates above their current base line.
We have signed £1 billion of guarantees with RBS and Lloyds for portfolios of £2 billion. The financing for businesses it releases has already started from 1 March as a result of the lending agreements based on the Asset Protection Scheme and WCS. We will be allocating from the £10 billion WCS, guarantees for trade credit insurance in response to the constraint to working capital arising from withdrawal of trade credit insurance. We will also be consulting on the viability of using some of these guarantees for letters of credit and other forms of export finance which are also possible areas of constraint for working capital.
Mr. Amess:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of companies which will apply for assistance under the Working Capital Scheme; how much has been allocated by his Department to the scheme; what criteria are used by his Department on deciding suitability under the scheme; under what
circumstances assistance would be refused; whether interest is charged under the scheme; and if he will make a statement. [259065]
Anne Main: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses have received funding under the Working Capital Scheme. [260556]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Working Capital Scheme (WCS) is not available directly to businesses. The scheme enables participating banks to increase the amount of working capital they can make available to businesses
By guaranteeing portfolios of working capital facilities, this will release regulatory capital held by the banks against these portfolios. The banks have agreed they will make commitments to re-deploy this capital in order to increase all types of lending to small and medium sized enterprise (SMEs) and mid-sized corporates above their current base line.
We have signed £1 billion of guarantees with RBS and Lloyds for portfolios of £2 billion. The financing for businesses it releases has already started from 1 March as a result of the lending agreements based on the Asset Protection Scheme and WCS. We will be allocating from the £10 billion WCS guarantees for trade credit insurance in response to the constraint to working capital arising from withdrawal of trade credit insurance. We will also be consulting on the viability of using some of these guarantees for letters of credit and other forms of export finance which are also possible areas of constraint for working capital.
Helen Southworth: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what business support measures from his Department are available to small and medium-sized businesses in Warrington. [276518]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Government fully appreciate the challenges faced by small and medium-sized businesses, especially during these difficult economic times, and we provide real help to businesses in the Warrington area through a wide range of business support. Details are set out in our 'Real Help' publication for the north-west which can be found at:
The Northwest Regional Development Agency also provide a broad range of business support in areas such as small business loans (from £3,000 to £50,000), grants, venture capital (ranging from £50,000 to £250,000), start-up, innovation and efficiency, high growth, international trade, training and development, and specific sector-based initiatives in areas such as manufacturing, digital and creative, business and professional services-full details can be found at:
Any business looking for support can access it through Business Link Northwest by visiting:
Simon Hughes:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses in the London Borough of Southwark have (a) applied for and (b) received assistance from
the (i) Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme and (ii) Capital for Enterprise Fund in 2009; and how much funding has been provided to businesses in Southwark under each scheme. [279301]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 15 June 2009]: The Department records information on the Enterprise Finance Guarantee and Capital for Enterprise Fund on a regional basis, including London. It does not hold the information requested at borough level and it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Set out in the following tables is the information for London since the launch of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee and Capital for Enterprise Fund on 14 January:
| Enterprise Finance Guarantee | |
| Number | |
| £ million | |
| Capital Enterprise Fund | |
| Number | |
| £ million | |
The fund managers are continuing due diligence on the proposals that have been put forward.
Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what sources of support are available to raise finance for small businesses which apply for assistance under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme and meet the eligibility criteria but are not accepted on the scheme by commercial lenders; and if he will make a statement. [279444]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 15 June 2009]: EFG is only available to viable businesses which are at the margins of commercial lending because they have insufficient security or their proposal involves a higher risk of loss in case of default.
Businesses that have been unable to secure funding from a lender under EFG may be eligible for a loan or other assistance from their Regional Development Agency. Business Link can advise on what additional finance help is available in the English regions on 0845 600 9 006 or via:
In addition Business Link offers businesses a free review of their business by a professional business adviser. As at 11 June 2009, over 57,800 businesses have benefited from these reviews. An average of 1,865 per week since the service began in October 2008.
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent steps his Department has taken to assist (a) small and (b) medium-sized businesses in the London Borough of Bexley. [281657]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Through Business Link, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in Bexley can access a wide range of mainstream Government business support products and services. Recent additional support has been made available to help SMEs during these tough economic times, including business health checks and a rapid response service to help SMEs hit hardest by the recession.
The Government are further assisting SMEs with 'real help now for businesses' which consists of targeted products and initiatives to help SMEs, including those in Bexley, during the downturn.
The full suite of business support services is routinely delivered in Bexley, including: advice, guidance and practical financial support with business start-ups, support for entrepreneurs and innovators with information on how to develop and explore their ideas, from inspiration to planning, to research, marketing, launch, business growth and exporting. Community development finance institutions (CDFIs) provide loans and other financial services to SMEs experiencing difficulty in accessing mainstream finance. This support complements that offered to SMEs by other departments:
Jobcentre Plus assists local businesses with recruitment and training and the LSC provides Train to Gain and apprenticeship funding.
Alongside support targeted at specific businesses the London Development Agency continues to support development of the local business infrastructure in Bexley. Examples include:
Estates Excellence South London/Soloman Ltd. (supporting 480 SMEs),
Building Futures/Trust Thamesmead (employment support to 200 SME employees),
Community Leaders Development (58 businesses supported, 11 new businesses created),
East London Business Place (6 Bexley SMEs supported)
Business: Insurance
Peter Luff: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent representations he has received from (a) representative business organisations and (b) individual businesses on the availability of trade credit insurance; and if he will make a statement. [278604]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 8 June 2009]: The Government have had regular discussions with the CBI and a range of businesses on the availability of trade credit insurance.
In response, the Government launched a trade credit insurance scheme to help those businesses who have suffered reductions in their level of cover. This top-up scheme will help mitigate disruption to trade and cash flows.
Following further engagement, the Government announced on 9 June that eligibility for the scheme will be backdated to include suppliers who had their cover reduced since 1 October 2008.
Business: York
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses were registered for value added tax in (a) City of York constituency and (b) the York unitary authority area in each year since 1992. [285872]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The total numbers of businesses registered for VAT at the start of each year from 1992 to 2008 for the city of York constituency and York local unitary authority are shown as follows:
| Year( 1) | City of York parliamentary constituency | York local unitary authority area |
| (1 )Large increases in the compulsory VAT registration threshold in 1991 and 1993 mean that figures before and after these dates are not directly comparable to data from 1994 onwards. The VAT series between 1980 and 1993 is available from the following link: http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/vat/vat8093.xls | ||
Between 1994 and 2008, the number of VAT registered businesses in the city of York constituency and the York local authority area increased by 31 and 34 per cent. respectively.
Constructing Excellence: Finance
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding (a) his Department and (b) each regional development agency has given to (i) the Centre for Constructing Excellence and (ii) each regional centre for constructing excellence since its inception. [278541]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The table shows funding provided by my Department to Centre for Constructing Excellence.
| BIS funding to Constructing Excellence | |
| £ million | |
| Notes: 1. These figures include core funding for specific projects 2. The RDAs did not provide any funding to the Centre for Constructing Excellence since its inception. 3. My Department has not provided any core funding to regional Centres for Constructing Excellence. | |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |