Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the SC21 Competitiveness and Growth programme beyond the expiry date of March 2022 to enable the aerospace and automative sectors to take into account the delays in access as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
An extension of the programme remains subject to the Department’s financial position following Spending Review 2021. The Government remains committed to supporting SMEs to improve their productivity and competitiveness. Earlier this year, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £500m for the Help to Grow programme which will look to improve SME leaders' approach to management and the importance of adopting digital technologies to improve productivity.