Measures to
strengthen supply chains and reduce the burden of regulation were
announced by the Business Secretary Vince Cable today.
Speaking at the Federation of Small Businesses conference Dr
Cable set out the practical steps Government is taking to help
SMEs and boost business investment and cut red tape, including:
The £125 million Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative,
which will open for applications from 29 March; and A new
'Focus on Enforcement' campaign to identify
where inappropriate or excessive enforcement of regulation is
holding companies back.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said:
“This Government has an absolute commitment to clearing away the
barriers that act as a brake on growth for British SMEs. That is
why, for example, we are not just reviewing whether there is still
a case for each regulation, but now we are going to tackle how
regulations are actually enforced as well. That commitment to
lighten the load lies at the heart of our strategy for achieving
economic transformation and recovery.
“In addition the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative
will help build manufacturing capacity and ensure that more of the
necessary components can be sourced in this country. We will
support projects that deliver economic growth, greater
competitiveness and safeguard or generate jobs.
“We will also increase the supply of capital through non-bank
lending channels via our £100m SME focused Business Finance
Partnership, targeting finance channels other than loan funds.”
The Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative has been set
up to help the existing supply chain grow, achieve world class
standards and encourage major new suppliers to come and
manufacture in the UK.
This initiative, to be run by Birmingham City Council, will
provide grants and loans to successful projects demonstrating real
ambition to create globally competitive supply chains.
The funding can support a combination of investment in capital
equipment, associated R&D, and training and skills in
recognition of the flexibility needed to overcome the barriers
that suppliers and supply chains can face.
Vince Cable today also launched the Focus on Enforcement campaign
- asking business to tell us where enforcement can be improved,
reduced or done differently and to discover and celebrate where it
works well, so others can learn from it. Government will pick up
the best ideas for change submitted and look swiftly at how we can
improve the experience of regulatory enforcement in those business areas.
Urging businesses to put forward their ideas for change and
improvement to the Focus on Enforcement website, Dr Cable added:
“The Government knows that ill thought-out regulations cost
businesses time and money – which is why it devised the Red Tape
Challenge. But sometimes the regulations are fine, it is
inconsistent, inappropriate or overlapping enforcement that is the problem.
“Focus on Enforcement gives all businesses, but especially
smaller and medium sized firms that often feel the
disproportionate weight of inspection and compliance, the chance
to make a real difference to the way regulators visit, inspect and
advise business and enforce the law."
Notes to editors:
1 For more information on the criteria of the Advance
Manufacturing Supply Chain initiative, timescales, eligibility and
how to bid, please visit http://www.innovateuk.org/content/competition/advance-notice-advanced-manufacturing-supply-chain.ashx.
There will be a national briefing event for potential applicants.
2 The £125 million national initiative is being funded by the
Regional Growth Fund and Department for Business Innovation and
Skills. It is based on an existing bid to the Regional Growth Fund
(RGF) led by a group of local enterprise partnerships (Greater
Birmingham and Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire, Black Country
and Liverpool City Region) and Birmingham City Council which
focussed on the automotive and aerospace sectors and on a specific
regional area.
3 The initiative is now expanded to the whole of England and
across advanced manufacturing sectors. Birmingham City Council
will administer the expanded fund and will ensure national
criteria and governance arrangements are put in place, including
an independent Investment Board to take final decisions on which
applications should receive funding from the initiative.
4 The scheme is open to all advanced manufacturing sectors except
where barriers to entry are low. The Technology Strategy Board
will support Birmingham City Council running the competition process.
5 The Focus on Enforcement website is live and can be found at http://discuss.bis.gov.uk/focusonenforcement.
The site gives business the opportunity to suggest areas for
review of compliance and enforcement arrangements, and to provide
evidence for the first three reviews. The first three reviews were
announced at Budget and will cover chemicals, small businesses in
food manufacturing and volunteer events. These reviews will begin
work in April and further details will be made available soon.
6 For the first time, details on national regulators, their
remits and regulatory budgets and staff resource are published in
one place on the website and information is also provided on
regulatory functions undertaken by local authorities. (A large
number of organisations play a part in securing compliance with
the law. They include national regulators, local
authorities, and bodies independent of Government, some of which
have statutory regulatory functions. The list on the website is
not exhaustive and details will continue to be added and updated).
7 The £100m investment in SMEs through non-bank lending channels
from the Business Finance Partnership (BFP) was announced in the
Budget. Its key aims are to stimulate the development of a deeper
and more diversified non-bank lending market for those businesses
in the UK with a turnover of less than £500m.
8 This year the Government is running the Business in
You campaign to encourage more people to start or grow their
business throughout 2012 using a range of existing support
services, including the SME Business Finance Partnership scheme.
More information is available at www.businessinyou.bis.gov.uk.
9 BIS's online newsroom contains the latest press
notices, speeches, as well as video and images for download. It
also features an up to date list of BIS press office contacts. See
http://www.bis.gov.uk/newsroom.
Contacts:
BIS Press Office
NDS.BIS@coi.gsi.gov.uk
Matt Barker
Phone: 020 7215 5946
matt.barker@bis.gsi.gov.uk