Geoffrey Robinson
Main Page: Geoffrey Robinson (Labour - Coventry North West)Department Debates - View all Geoffrey Robinson's debates with the Department for Education
(13 years ago)
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Vince Cable
Our estimate is that roughly a third of all regional growth fund money is going to SMEs, and there are several routes through which it goes. First, there are packets of SME loans, one of which was in Liverpool, while another is in Plymouth. Indeed, I saw that one a couple of weeks ago, and it is going extraordinarily well. There are specifically tailored schemes—for example, the RBS-HSBC scheme linked to asset finance—and programme bids, as in Manchester, all of which are targeted at SMEs.
Mr Geoffrey Robinson (Coventry North West) (Lab)
The Secretary of State will be aware that in the last round an SME in Coventry was turned down for a major investment from the regional growth fund. Despite the fact that the council and, more importantly, the local enterprise partnership were in full support, the company was turned down—I am not particularly grumbling about the decision, disappointed though we were, of course—on the grounds that the ownership was wrong. Will the Minister put in place better criteria for sifting schemes locally and regionally? The company wasted an awful lot of time and money in preparing its bid.
Vince Cable
I would certainly be happy to look into the background of that particular case. As the hon. Gentleman knows, we have an impartial process. Applications come to Ministers and then go through Sir Ian Wrigglesworth and Lord Heseltine, who sift and assess them properly. There is a new round for the regional growth fund, and if the project that the hon. Gentleman mentions can be reworked, we would certainly be very happy to look at it.