Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2017 to Question 107986, whether the Government provides any guidance to local authorities on assessing the effect of local council business support programmes.

Local and combined authorities are responsible for evaluating any business support programmes they deliver and reporting on outcomes to funders. Government has therefore given local and combined authorities more powers and autonomy to decide how to spend public money in their area and for deciding how the impact of locally owned business support programmes should be assessed. At the same time, Government has made local and combined authorities more transparent and accountable for their actions.

The hon. Member might also like to note that we fund the What Works Centre (WWC) for Local Economic Growth. The Centre assesses business support, and provides a range of resources to help local government assess the impact of their business support programmes.