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9 Sep 2009 : Column 2056W—continued
Andrew George:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many applications for finance guarantees from
companies in each local authority area under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme have been (a) received and (b) approved. [270686]
Kevin Brennan:
The Department records information about the Enterprise Finance Guarantee on a regional
basis. It does not hold the information at the level requested and it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Set out in the table is the information, for all UK regions, since the launch of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee on 14 January.
| Total eligible cases | Total value of eligible cases (£ million) | Number of new loans offered to customers | Total value of offered Loans (£ million) | Number of offered loans drawn down | Total value of drawn Loans (£ million) | |
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the (a) total cost and (b) cost for (i) staff time, (ii) refreshments, (iii) security, (iv) transport and (v) other matters was of arranging and hosting (A) the employment summit on 12 January 2009, (B) the car industry summit on 28 January 2009, (C) the car industry summit on 12 December 2008, (D) the credit care summit on 26 November 2008, (E) the prompt payment summit on 10 December 2008, (F) the car industry summit on 27 November 2008 and (G) the pharmaceutical industry summit on 27 January 2009. [271593]
Mr. McFadden: Regarding the Employment Summit on 12 January, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the then Minister of State for Pensions and the Ageing Society to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 5 May, Official Report, column 118W.
Regarding the Car Industry Summit on 28 January, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Economics and Business to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 20 March, Official Report, column 1408W.
BIS has no record of a Car Industry Summit being held on 12 December 2008.
The Credit Card Summit was held at the BERR conference centre in London on 26 November 2008. The total cost of the event was £6,080. The costs are broken down by budgetary headings in the following table.
| Expenditure breakdown of Credit Card Summit held on 26 November 2008 (£) | |
| Notes: 1. Figures rounded up to the nearest pound. 2. Calculating exact staff costs would be onerous, therefore figures are an estimate. | |
The Prompt Payment Summit on 12 December 2008 was held at the BIS Conference Centre in London. Refreshments were limited to tea and biscuits to around 20 delegates so costs were therefore minimal.
The Car Industry Summit on 27 November 2008 was held at the BIS Conference Centre in London. Total costs for this event were £784, broken down as £287 for room hire and £497 for catering.
The Pharmaceutical Summit held on 27 January was chaired by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister at 10 Downing street. My noble friend, the Minister for Economic Competitiveness and Small Business participated in the summit. BERR made no financial contribution to the cost of hosting the summit. BIS made no estimate of the cost of staff time, security or transport in preparing BIS's input to this event. This information is not held centrally and to do so would involve disproportionate cost.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many (a) small and medium-sized enterprises and (b) individuals have applied for assistance under each initiative announced by his Department since November 2008; how many applications have been (i) accepted and (ii) rejected; for what reasons applications were rejected; and how much funding has been provided in relation to each initiative. [276869]
Kevin Brennan: Since November 2008 the Department has announced the following schemes.
Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG)
This was launched on 14 January 2009. To date, over £680 million of eligible applications from 6,207 firms that have been granted, are being processed or assessed. 4,526 businesses have been offered loans totalling nearly £455 million.
Decisions on individual lending rests with the lender, whose decision will follow a commercial assessment of the viability of the proposition and the ability to service the loan and other charges, the suitability of EFG as opposed to lender's other commercial lending products, and the EFG eligibility criteria.
The Capital for Enterprise Fund was also announced on 14 January. 1,611 businesses have registered their interest in the fund. The fund managers have made offers totalling £36 million to 24 businesses. Four businesses have accepted the terms of the funding offered with a total value of £5 million. Thus far, two businesses have received investment totalling £3 million. The fund managers are continuing due diligence on the further proposals that have been put forward.
Take-up is demand-led as it depends on the number of credit limit reductions in the private sector. All applications, payments, claims and queries under the scheme are dealt with by the trade credit insurer. At present, 52 policies totalling £7.045 million have been accepted by trade credit insurers.
Over 165,923 orders for new vehicles have been taken since the scrappage scheme was announced in the Budget. The scheme was launched on 18 May. Under the terms of the scheme, vehicle dealers liaise with customers. BIS does not hold information on whether orders are made by businesses or individuals. A small number of orders are cancelled/removed each week for a variety of reasons e.g. accidental duplicate orders by dealers, the customer changing their mind. However, we anticipate that, subject to any future minor adjustments of this sort, all orders that meet the scheme criteria would qualify for Government funding of £1,000 per vehicle matched by at least £1,000 from the manufacturers.
Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions his Department has had with accredited lenders under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme about the terms and conditions under which loans are made to businesses; and if he will make a statement. [279302]
Kevin Brennan [holding answer 15 June 2009]: Capital for Enterprise Ltd, which delivers the Enterprise Finance Guarantee on behalf of BIS, has regular discussions with the main participating lenders about lending under the scheme and is working with them to ensure terms and conditions are communicated throughout their networks to Relationship Managers. Each lender has access to a web based portal which includes information on the EFG rules and training on the use of the portal.
Simon Hughes:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of
the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme in supporting small businesses; and if he will make a statement. [279303]
Kevin Brennan [holding answer 15 June 2009]: The Enterprise Finance Guarantee has been designed to lend to viable businesses at the margins of commercial lending decisions representing approximately 3 per cent. of the total SME lending market and is facilitating lending that would otherwise not be available. Since the launch of the scheme in January:
ixAs of 12 August 2009, over £680 million of eligible applications from over 6,027 firms has been granted, being processed or assessed.
So far, over 4,520 businesses have been offered loans totalling almost £455 million.
The network of approved lenders has expanded from eight at launch to twenty-seven, providing access across the whole of the UK.
A mystery shopper exercise (of the main four EFG lenders) showed that 77 per cent. of bank business advisers surveyed showed a good awareness of EFG.
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many loans have been made to small and medium-sized businesses in (a) Derbyshire and (b) West Derbyshire under the Small Business Loan Guarantee scheme since its inception. [279652]
Kevin Brennan: The Enterprise Finance Guarantee was launched on 14 January and replaced the Small Firms Loan Guarantee. Set out in the table is the information for Derbyshire and West Derbyshire:
| Number | Value (£ million) | |
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department and its predecessors have taken to (a) assist small businesses, (b) assist medium-sized businesses, (c) develop the skills base, (d) facilitate innovation and (e) facilitate business start-ups in Coventry in the last two years. [280718]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 18 June 2009]: The information is as follows:
1. The Government are committed to ensuring that a comprehensive range of assistance is available, particularly to businesses affected by the economic downturn. The support available includes a package of schemes to address the cash flow, credit and capital needs of small businesses under the Real Help for Business campaign launched in January 2009. Full details of the support available can be found at:
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