| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
21 July 2009 : Column 1687W—continued
| Enfield North | |
| Number | |
| Value (£ million) | |
Business: Government Assistance
Anne Main: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) how much lending has been guaranteed under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme; [260553]
(2) how many businesses have received assistance under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme. [260554]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Since its launch on 14 January the Enterprise Finance Guarantee has over £596 million of eligible applications from 5,305 firms that have been granted, are being processed or assessed. 3,867 businesses have been offered loans totalling £381.23 million.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the implications for lenders under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme of the default rate exceeding 13 per cent. of the whole amount guaranteed. [267153]
Ms Rosie Winterton: To date, there is no evidence to suggest that lenders are being inhibited in their use of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee because of the cap of 13 per cent., which is a requirement of EU state aid rules. It is important to remember that the Enterprise Finance Guarantee is aimed at helping banks lend to fundamentally viable businesses. We therefore do not expect an overall portfolio default rate of 13 per cent. to restrict the ability of banks to lend appropriately under the guarantee.
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many loans have been granted under the Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme to small and medium-sized businesses in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point since the inception of that scheme. [282071]
Ms Rosie Winterton: As follows are the numbers and value of loans secured under the enterprise finance guarantee for Essex and Castle Point since it was launched on 14 January 2009:
| Essex | Castle Point | |
Mr. Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what further assistance he plans to provide to (a) small businesses, (b) medium-sized businesses and (c) large businesses in Essex in the next 12 months; what recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on this issue; and if he will make a statement. [282247]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The East of England Development Agency's business support services, which operate at a regional level, are all available to businesses in Essex. All business support is accessible through Business Link East. EEDA's Business Map,
is designed to help businesses navigate the network of publicly funded business support.
Key business support services that will assist businesses in the region during the next 12 months are as follows:
The EEDA-funded regional Business Link service provides access to a comprehensive range of independent, impartial advice to would-be entrepreneurs, start-ups and businesses across the region. Within Essex, Business Link have three Partnership Directors overseeing activity specifically dedicated to supporting Essex businesses.
EEDA along with UK Trade and Investment funds East of England International (EEI) to offer an international trade and inward investment service, which provides the support to local businesses to grow internationally or export and to overseas-owned companies locating in the region
EEDA's own specialist business support services include:
Take ITon - assisting businesses to improve use of IT, focused on helping small and medium-sized enterprises save costs through IT.
Manufacturing Advisory Service East (MAS-East) - assisting businesses to introduce new manufacturing, innovation and design tools.
Enterprising Women - specialist business support for women entrepreneurs.
Inspiring Women - supporting economically inactive women to find employment or consider self-employment.
Business Finance - EEDA manages a number of business finance schemes designed to help businesses in the region start up and grow, e.g.:
Proof of Concept - grants up to £20,000 to define and quantify the market opportunity for a business
Grants for Research and Development - grants from £5,000 to £250,000 to help businesses carry out research and development work
Grant for Business Investment - grants from £10,000 to £2 million to establish, expand, diversify and modernise your business.
Small Loans for Business - loans of £500 to £50,000 for start-ups, SMEs and social enterprises
EEDA Regional Loan (Transition) - short-term loans of £100,000 to £150,000 for businesses turning over more than £1 million
EEDA Regional Loan (Growth) - long-term loans of £50,000 to £200,000 for growth businesses.
Innovation Vouchers - designed to help businesses purchase academic expertise from the region's universities to support innovation and business improvement.
Understanding Finance for Business - a training course to help to make SME businesses investment-ready and be signposted to relevant sources of funding
Beyond 2010 - in the next 12 months, EEDA will fund a £6.2 million project to work alongside Train to Gain to ensure that businesses can get the skills training that they need. This includes £2.2 million to support a regional Response to Redundancy programme which provides advice, guidance and re-training opportunities to individuals facing redundancy. The programme is linked to the Jobcentre Plus Rapid Response Service.
Resource Efficiency East - This scheme helps businesses to improve their competitiveness by using resources more efficiently. The project aims to save the region's SMEs £12m a year, and cut water consumption by 765,000 cubic metres, landfill by 81,000 tonnes and carbon dioxide emissions by 40,000 tonnes.
At an national level, there are also:
the Enterprise Finance Guarantee is a temporary loan guarantee scheme which enables bank lending to SMEs with a turnover of up to £25 million. The Government have set aside £1.3 billion to guarantee banks loans to SMEs who have been deemed viable but have little or no security. It is due to end in March 2010 and an announcement about what will replace EFG will be made in due course
the Capital for Enterprise Fund is a £75 million equity scheme. Decisions on investments are made by the appointed fund managers and are based on the merits of the proposal and the outcome of the resulting due diligence, and not on the location of the business.
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses in Castle Point 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 has been provided to businesses in Castle Point under each scheme. [282968]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The number and value of loans offered and drawn under the enterprise finance guarantee for Castle Point since it was launched on 14 January 2009:
| Enterprise finance guarantee | |
The Department only records information on a regional basis for the capital for enterprise fund and the information for the south-east is as follows:
| South-east | |
Mike Penning: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent steps his Department has taken to assist (a) small, (b) medium-sized and (c) large businesses in Hemel Hempstead; and if he will make a statement. [283675]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Business Link, which is funded by East of England Development Agency (EEDA), provides access to independent and impartial business advice. Business Link engaged with 1,439 companies in Hemel Hempstead (parliamentary constituency) during 2008-09 out of 19,460 for the county of Hertfordshire.
EEDA delivers a range of specialist business support services across the East of England accessible through Business Link East. All these services are available to businesses in Hemel Hempstead:
EEDA along with UK Trade and Investment funds East of England International (EEI) to offer an international trade and inward investment service for businesses in the region.
EEDA's Take ITon campaign assists businesses to improve use of IT, focused on helping small and medium-sized enterprises save costs through IT.
Assistance for businesses to introduce new manufacturing, innovation and design tools through Manufacturing Advisory Service East (MAS-East).
EEDA's specialist business support for women entrepreneurs, Enterprising Women, offers networking opportunities, a bank of mentors, promotional opportunities and a network of women ambassadors.
Support for economically inactive women; Inspiring Women assists them to find employment or consider self-employment as a career option.
EEDA manages a number of business finance schemes designed to help businesses in the region start up and grow. These include grants for Proof of Concept and Research and Developments, small loans for start-ups, SMEs and social enterprises as well as short and long-term larger loans.
EEDA's understanding finance for business programme to help businesses understand and access the most appropriate form of finance for your business.
Resource Efficiency East scheme helps businesses to improve their competitiveness by using resources more efficiently.
the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) which is a temporary loan guarantee scheme launched on 14 January 2009. Under the EFG, Government will support up to £1.3 billion of bank loans to companies with a turnover of up to £25 million for working capital and investment. These will be smaller, viable,
creditworthy firms that are struggling to access the finance they need because of the additional risk created by the downturn. EFG is due to end in March 2010 and an announcement about what will replace EFG will be made in due course.
The Department records information on the Capital for Enterprise Fund on a regional basis, including the East of England. As of 7 July, the appointed fund managers report 44 formal inquiries from businesses in the East of England. Of which, one offer of investment totalling £2 million has been issued thus far.
Mike Penning: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses in Hemel Hempstead 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 Hemel Hempstead under each such scheme in 2009. [283676]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested in respect of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee for Hemel Hempstead since it was launched on 14 January 2009 is as follows:
| Enterprise Finance Guarantee | |
The Department only records information on a regional basis for the Capital for Enterprise Fund and the information for the East region is as follows:
| Enterprise fund | |
Mike Penning: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) Hertfordshire (i) have sought access to funding under and (ii) are receiving assistance from the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme. [284561]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Set out in the following tables is the information for the Enterprise Finance Guarantee for Hemel Hempstead and Hertfordshire since it was launched on 14 January 2009:
| Hemel Hempstead | |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |