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3 Dec 2009 : Column 976W—continued
Business
Dr. Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what definitions of small and medium-sized enterprises are used by the Government. [300529]
Ms Rosie Winterton: There is no single definition of a small and medium-sized enterprise. The Companies Act 1985 and its 2006 successor Act defines small and medium firms for the purpose of qualifying for simplified accounting requirements. A company must meet two of the following criteria for two years in a row to qualify:
A turnover of not more than £6.5 million
A balance sheet total of not more than £3.26 million
Not more than 50 employees
A turnover of not more than £25.9 million
A balance sheet total of not more than £12.9 million
Not more than 250 employees
These definitions are specific to company law. However, BIS use the number of employees when compiling official statistical publications such as the SME statistics for the UK. So for statistical purposes, a small firm would be defined as a firm with between 0 and 49 employees and a medium enterprise would have between 50 and 249 employees.
There is an EU definition of an SME which came into force on 1 January 2005 and is applied, for example, in state aids and for qualification to some EU programmes. The EU definition is based on headcount, turnover, balance sheet and independence criteria. More information on the EU definition can be found at the following link:
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many small businesses there were in (a) England, (b) the South East and (c) Lewes constituency in each of the last five years. [301284]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Estimates of the total number of small(1) businesses from 2003 to 2008 in England and the South East of England are shown in the following table.
(1) Small businesses are defined as private sector enterprises with fewer than 50 employees.
| Start of year | England( 1) | Government office region for the South East of England( 1) |
| n/a = Not available (1) Enterprises that have sites in more than one region or country are counted here only in the area where they are registered. (2) Prior to 2007 regional statistics were produced every two years. (3) The latest available data. Estimates of the number of businesses at the start of 2009 will be published in autumn 2010. Source: 'Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Statistics for the UK and Regions'-Department for Business Innovation and Skills. | ||
The number of businesses in England and the South East has increased by 19 per cent. and 13 per cent. respectively between the start of 2003 and 2008.
Estimates of the total number of small businesses in the Lewes Constituency are not available. However, figures for the number of small registered businesses by parliamentary constituency are available at:
However, these figures exclude small businesses that are too small to be registered for VAT and/or PAYE.
Business: Credit
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the availability of credit to new businesses; and what steps his Department is taking to increase this availability. [300224]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The October Bank of England report Trends in Lending stated that
"in contrast to the business sector as a whole, annual growth rates of bank lending to SMEs have remained positive over recent months."
While it is true to say that demand for finance remains subdued and new lending is down comparatively with 2007, the large majority of SMEs do access the finance they require.
BIS SME lending data show that approval rates have changed little in recent months at around two thirds of applications from small firms (sub £l million turnover), and upwards of 80 per cent. (loans) and 90 per cent. (overdrafts) for medium sized firms (£l million to £25 million).
The Government continue to encourage the banks to lend to viable SMEs and the experiences of both lenders and borrowers are discussed regularly at the Small Business Finance Forum, which will continue into 2010. The Government also have legally binding lending commitments with Lloyds Banking Group and RBS.
In addition to standard bank lending, under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme £662.64 million of loans have been offered to SMEs and £533.63 million drawn down, as at 19 November 2009.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what his most recent estimate is of the level of availability of credit to small businesses. [300395]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The October Bank of England report "Trends in Lending" stated that
"in contrast to the business sector as a whole, annual growth rates of bank lending to SMEs have remained positive over recent months."
While it is true to say that demand for finance remains subdued and new lending is down comparatively with 2007, the large majority of SMEs do access the finance they require.
BIS SME lending data shows that approval rates have changed little in recent months at around two thirds of applications from small firms (sub £1 million turnover), and upwards of 80 per cent. (loans) and 90 per cent. (overdrafts) for medium sized firms (£1 million to £25 million).
In addition to standard bank lending, under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme, £662.64 million of loans have been offered to SMEs and £533.63 million drawn down, as at 19 November.
Business: Government Assistance
Dr. Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much lending has been supported by the small business finance scheme announced in the 2008 pre-Budget report. [300363]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The small business finance scheme announced in the 2008 pre-Budget report was launched in January 2009 as the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG).
As of 18 November 2009, 6,543 businesses have been offered loans totalling £662.64 million under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee. Of these, 5,374 businesses have drawn loans totalling £533.63 million.
Company Liquidations
Mr. Weir: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the amount of money which is owed to unsecured creditors by firms in liquidation. [300789]
Ian Lucas: The Insolvency Service does not collate a total figure for the amount due to unsecured creditors by firms in liquidation. However, the service's most recent profiling report for companies in compulsory liquidation for the period 2005/06 to 2007/08 shows that the average level of debt owed by companies in compulsory liquidation was as follows:
| Average level of debt owed (£) | |
The above figures do not include amounts due to creditors in voluntary liquidations. The service is currently collecting information in respect of compulsory liquidations in the year 2008/09.
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Willis: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many residential properties his Department owns; and how many (a) are occupied and (b) have been empty for more than six months. [303992]
Mr. McFadden: This Department does not own any residential properties.
Departmental Domestic Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on how many occasions he visited (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland in an official capacity in the last 12 months. [303484]
Mr. McFadden: My noble Friend the Secretary of State has visited Scotland twice, Wales once and Northern Ireland once.
Departmental Legislation
Chris Huhne: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what criminal offences have been (a) abolished and (b) created by primary legislation sponsored by his Department since 1 May 2008. [303246]
Mr. McFadden: There has been one criminal offence created and no criminal offences abolished by primary legislation sponsored by the Department since 1 May 2008.
A new criminal offence was created under section 49 of the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008. Section 46 of the Act allows regulators to serve a stop notice on a person in relation to a regulatory breach. Under section 49, where a person on whom a notice is served does not comply with it, the person is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of up to £20,000 (on summary conviction) and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or a fine, or both (on conviction on indictment).
No order has yet been made to give effect to section 49.
Departmental Scientists
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what mechanisms are in place to ensure the independence of (a) scientific advisers and (b) civil servants in scientific posts in providing scientific advice to the Government. [301728]
Mr. Lammy: The Government are committed to taking decisions based on the best possible scientific and engineering advice. The "Guidelines on Scientific Analysis in Policy Making" describe how evidence should be sought and applied to enhance the ability of Government to take better informed decisions. The "Guidelines" make clear that expert advisers and decision makers have clearly separated roles, stating that experts "should not be expected to take into account potential political reaction to their findings before presenting them" (paragraph 22).
The Government's "Code of Practice for Scientific Advisory Committees" clearly states that a committee's advice "should be seen as independent of Government" (paragraph 84), and that Government officials should respect "the committee's independence" (paragraph 52). The independence of committee members is also underlined, with the Code stating that they "are appointed as individuals to fulfil the role of the committee, not as representatives of their particular profession, employer or interest group" (paragraph 32).
Regardless of their area of professional expertise, all civil servants are bound by the "Civil Service Code" which states that they must be impartial and "provide information and advice, including advice to Ministers, on the basis of the evidence, and accurately present the options and facts and take due account of expert and professional advice".
Finally, the "Universal Ethical Code for Scientists", which is relevant to anyone whose work uses scientific methods, including social, natural, medical and veterinary sciences, engineering and mathematics, states that scientists should "not knowingly mislead, or allow others to be misled, about scientific matters and must present and review scientific evidence, theory or interpretation honestly and accurately".
East Midlands Development Agency: Public Relations
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what payments the East Midlands Development Agency has made to Weber Shandwick in each of the last three years; for what purposes; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments have been made. [302307]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The East Midlands Development Agency (emda) has contracted with Weber Shandwick on two distinct pieces of work during the period in question:
emda contracted with Weber Shandwick (on behalf of the RDA network) in 2008-09 to provide general support in relation to the Business and Enterprise Select Committee inquiry into RDAs-£14,148.
Weber Shandwick's Mumbai office was also contracted, jointly with Advantage West Midlands, to provide specialist public relations support to help identify Indian businesses seeking to relocate to the UK. The costs allocated to emda amounted to £6,250 in 2007-08 and £16,975 in 2008-09.
I am unable to place the related contracts in the House of Commons Library due to their content being commercially confidential.
Enterprise Management Incentives
Mr. Todd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations he has received on the effect on academic entrepreneurs of the employment test applied as part of the Enterprise Management Incentive scheme; and if he will make a statement. [303300]
Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide variety of organisations in the public and
private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such representations.
Foreign Investment in UK
Chloe Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many inward investment projects have been established in Norwich North constituency in each year since 1997. [301707]
Ian Lucas: Inward investment data is broken down by postcode area rather than constituency boundaries. Since 1 April 1997 UK Trade and Investment has recorded 17 inward investment projects in the overall Norwich postcode area. Of these, nine were in postcode areas which fall wholly or partially within the current Norwich, North constituency.
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