Manufacturing: Economic Policy
Debate between Earl of Courtown and Baroness Wilcox
Baroness Wilcox
I of course agree with noble Baroness. The Government are putting in place funding for 75,000 more adult apprenticeships than the previous Government were providing—and they were providing a lot, too. So we are on the way. The Government are committed to increasing the number of apprenticeships —particularly advanced apprenticeships—so that we bring people up with the skill base that will be relevant for this century and the next.
The Earl of Courtown
My Lords, as many noble Lords are aware, I have run an SME for many years. One of the real problems we have found is access to funding. Can my noble friend say how Her Majesty’s Government can help access to funding, particularly where growth is concerned?
Baroness Wilcox
My noble friend Lord Courtown speaks well for SMEs, as he always does. We are trying to ensure the flow of credit to viable SME manufacturers. This is essential for support and growth and is a core priority for government. Some of the things we are doing to help include: continuing the enterprise finance guarantee until 2014-15, potentially enabling more than £2 billion of additional SME funding; continuing the enterprise capital funds programme to provide £300 million of venture capital for early stage innovation SMEs with high growth potential; and working with the British Banking Association on a range of commitments to assist SMEs with accessing the finance that they need. In addition, the Government are taking forward a package of investment readiness support for high-growth potential SMEs through the Business Coaching for Growth programme. My gosh, we should not fail with all that going on.