GOVERMENT TO STREAMLINE BUSINESS SUPPORT
(22 March 2006)

The Department of Trade and Industry is spearheading a government-wide initiative to streamline business support at a local, regional and national level to reduce the number of schemes from more than 3,000 to just 100 by 2010. The work will be done in partnership with the RDAs, other government departments and local bodies.

The move was announced in today's Budget and follows on from the success of the DTI's own business support simplification which streamlined its own business support products from 150 to eight, each specifically tailored to meet customers needs.

Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Alan Johnson said: 'The DTI's own streamlining has shown that with fewer, more sharply focussed products, businesses find them easier to use and more investment reaches those who need it.

'We will continue to work closely with business and liaise with other government departments, RDAs and local bodies to roll out business support simplification at all levels of government.'

The eight business support schemes that the DTI offers are tailored to meet specific needs. These include:

1. The Small Firms Loan Guarantee, which helps more than 6000 small firms every year to raise finance;
   
   
2. Knowledge Transfer Partnership, where more than 1300 partnerships have been established since its launch in 2003; and
   
   
3. Collaborative Research and Development, which has invested more than £250m to support over 350 projects in emerging technology areas.