National Audit Office Department Of Business Innovation And Skills Hm Treasury Improving Access To Finance For Small And Medium Sized Enterprises Hc 724
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National Audit Office Department Of Business Innovation And Skills Hm Treasury Improving Access To Finance For Small And Medium Sized Enterprises Hc 724
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Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
language : en
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Release Date : 2013-11
National Audit Office Department Of Business Innovation And Skills Hm Treasury Improving Access To Finance For Small And Medium Sized Enterprises Hc 724 written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and has been published by The Stationery Office this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2013-11 with Business & Economics categories.
Despite a renewed focus by government on the financing challenges facing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), there is scope for the range of funding initiatives currently in place to work as a more unified programme, according to the National Audit Office. Preparations for the Business Bank, which was publicly launched in October 2013 but will start operating as an independent entity in 2014, prompted the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) to re-examine the nature of the finance problems facing SMEs. These include a possible need by SMEs by 2017 for an additional £22 billion over and above the finance available to them. BIS and HM Treasury are able to draw on an increasingly strong body of data to inform decision-making, including Bank of England reports on credit conditions, the SME business barometer and aggregated information from the British Bankers' Association on loan applications and approvals. At present, although BIS and HM Treasury both have teams dealing with 'enterprise' policy, there is no formal research programme joining the Departments with other departments, such as HMRC, with an interest in SMEs. One of the Treasury's priorities is to support the development of new routes to finance for SMEs, while BIS schemes target specific parts of the market. To date, the Departments have not articulated clearly enough what the various schemes are expected to deliver as a programme. The NAO found that BIS-led schemes such as the Enterprise Finance Guarantee and Start-Up Loans provided direct support to around 5,900 firms in 2012-13, and the current schemes are generally performing positively in terms of meeting the largely activity-based success measures set for them. BIS has also taken steps to provide better explanations to SMEs on the options available to them for financing their business, but raising the profile of the help available will be a challenge for the Business Bank.
Supporting Small Business
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Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
language : en
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Release Date : 2006-05-24
Supporting Small Business written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and has been published by The Stationery Office this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2006-05-24 with Business & Economics categories.
In 2000, the Department of Trade and Industry established the Small Business Service (SBS). This report presents four aspects of its work in more detail - SBS's role in: influencing Government regulations and policies; facilitating small business access to finance; helping to join up services across Government; providing advice and support to small business. The NAO report also sets out a number of recommendations, including the following: that the current performance measurement framework could be simplified, by reviewing the Public Service Agreement objectives and targets; that an improvement in the programme of evaluations should align Government targets with small business aims and objectives; that the Small Business Service actions and activities should be supported by well documented cost-effective evidence; that the Government Action Plan for departmental co-operation should be further developed, including specific commitments from government departments on the actions they are undertaking and the resources they have committed to small business issues. The latest data, from 2003 showed that of the 3.5 million businesses in England all bar 5,400 were either small (with fewer that 50 employees) or medium-sized (with 50 to 249 employees). Small and medium sized businesses are found in all sectors of the economy, account for half of all business turnover and employ 57% of the England's private sector workforce. This report examines the SBS's performance management framework and its performance against key targets.
Financial Management Report
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Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
language : en
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Release Date : 2012-07-12
Financial Management Report written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and has been published by The Stationery Office this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2012-07-12 with Business & Economics categories.
Following the spending review, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is targeting a 27 per cent reduction, after inflation, in core resources between 2010-11 and 2014-15. However, this does not take account of a near doubling in student loan payments arising from the higher education reforms, much of which the Department expects will be repaid sometime after 2014-15. Once these are included, the Department's total spending is forecast to reduce by 6 per cent, after inflation, during the four year period. The Department is also working on a number of other reforms associated with the settlement, including attracting private investment into Royal Mail, setting up the Green Investment Bank by September 2012, and providing £1.3 billion to modernise the Post Office network. The Department has worked hard over the last 18 months to improve its financial management, and current practices have enabled it to keep its day-to-day financial management on track. However, the Department recognises that its current financial management capacity and skills will not be sufficient if it is to manage the substantial challenges ahead. It is implementing a number of change programmes aimed at integrating financial management across the department and its partner organisations. The outcomes of this are as yet unclear and the NAO has identified key areas for action. These include improving the quality of information available to support decision-making, strengthening cross-department arrangements for scrutinising investment proposals, and improving sponsorship of partner organisations.
Support To Business During A Recession
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Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
language : en
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Release Date : 2010-03-26
Support To Business During A Recession written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and has been published by The Stationery Office this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2010-03-26 with Business & Economics categories.
In late 2008, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills stepped in to offer targeted support to struggling, but viable, businesses in the face of a severe economic downturn. The Department began to think strategically about its response in autumn 2008 and in October 2008 it launched six schemes, comprising over £20 billion of potential support, to improve access to finance and to support the automotive sector. It did not, however, set out an overarching aim for the schemes. The Department did well to set-up the schemes quickly under pressure, with support reaching businesses between three and 35 weeks after they were announced. The management of the schemes was generally good. Take-up, however, has been lower than expected, partly as a result of the suitability of the support, driven by the Department's limited pre-existing knowledge of some of these activities. There were weaknesses in the Department's arrangements for estimating the cost of administering the schemes. A departmental analysis of the Vehicle Scrappage Scheme forecast that it would provide a net economic loss and was unlikely to represent good value for money in the longer term. Ministers directed the Department to continue for a number of reasons: including that extra purchases made while the economy was suffering were worth more than those when the sector had recovered and that the risk of doing nothing outweighed the risks of intervention.
Improving Access To Finance For Small And Medium Sized Enterprises
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Author : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts
language : en
Publisher: Stationery Office
Release Date : 2014-01-21
Improving Access To Finance For Small And Medium Sized Enterprises written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and has been published by Stationery Office this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2014-01-21 with Business & Economics categories.
BIS manages six main schemes that are intended to provide around £2.85 billion of financial support for SMEs between 2011-12 and 2014-15. In 2012-13, these schemes helped just over 5,900 firms. In addition, HM Treasury and the Bank of England jointly oversee the Funding for Lending scheme, under which banks and other lenders have been provided with £17.6 billion at cheaper than market rates, with the intention that they will lend this on to businesses and households. The new British Business Bank, which will start operating in 2014, has £1 billion of capital at its disposal in addition to the resources of the existing BIS-led schemes, and is designed to better identify and fill gaps in the market for financing SMEs. But net lending by banks participating in the Funding for Lending scheme has declined by £2.3 billion since the scheme was launched, and the number and value of loans backed by the Enterprise Finance Guarantee fell each year between 2010 and 2013. The departments' schemes are managed as a series of ad hoc initiatives to address particular weaknesses in the market, rather than as a coherent programme. Government must use the establishment of the British Business Bank to start managing departmental schemes as a coherent programme, clearly setting out what it wants to achieve, and how each scheme and the programme as a whole will contribute towards the overall objective of making it easier for SMEs to access the finance they need.
Managing Financial Resources To Deliver Public Services
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Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
language : en
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Release Date : 2008-02-20
Managing Financial Resources To Deliver Public Services written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and has been published by The Stationery Office this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2008-02-20 with Business & Economics categories.
This report examines the management of financial resources to deliver better public services effectively. Divided into four parts, with appendices, it looks at the following areas: Part 1: The importance of managing financial resources; Part 2: Developing the skills and awareness necessary for effective financial resource management; Part 3: Improving departments' use of techniques and practices for managing financial resources; Part 4: The impact of improved management and financial resources. Financial rsource management is relevant to every aspect of a Government department's business. By 2010-11, central government spending is forecast to grow to £678 billion, which represents £11,000 for every person in the UK. The NAO has set out a number of findings and recommendations, including: that the lack of financial skills and awareness amongst non-finance staff remains a significant barrier to improving the management of financial resources across government; that some departments lack a qualified Finance Director at Board level; that senior managers in many departments are not provided with incentives to promote sound management of financial resources; that Departments could do more to improve their forecasting capabilities; that some Departments are not sufficiently well placed to integrate financial and operational performance information; that many Departments do not always ensure the full assessment of the financial implications of policy proposals.
The Customer First Programme
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Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
language : en
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Release Date : 2010-03-19
The Customer First Programme written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and has been published by The Stationery Office this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2010-03-19 with Business & Economics categories.
In 2009 the Student Loans Company took over the processing of loan and grant applications for new students from England which had previously been carried out by 130 local authorities. The Company's document scanning system was launched before being fully tested. Its failure was critical, and the Company's contingency plan was both flawed and implemented late. The Company took 33 per cent longer to process applications in 2009-10 compared with local authorities in 2008-09, and only 46 per cent of new applications had been fully processed by the start of term. By September 2009, 241,000 applications had been received but not fully processed. This led to a dramatic increase in the volume of calls, with the Company receiving over four million in September - 87 per cent of which were unanswered. The Company had failed to communicate key messages to applicants that would have helped to reduce unnecessary calls. The customer service provided by the Company in 2009 was poor. The NAO also raises concerns about the Company's performance in managing Disabled Students' Allowance. By the end of 2009, only 4,000 of 17,000 applications had resulted in a payment, taking an average of 20 weeks to be processed. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Student Loans Company underestimated the challenges in centralising this service. Neither the Department's monitoring of the Company nor the Company's Board's oversight were effective. Substantial risks remain to the successful delivery of the service in 2010.
Venture Capital Support To Small Businesses
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Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
language : en
Publisher: Stationery Office
Release Date : 2009-12-10
Venture Capital Support To Small Businesses written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and has been published by Stationery Office this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2009-12-10 with Business & Economics categories.
Since 2000, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and its predecessors have invested around £338 million in a series of venture capital funds to support young companies, which may find it difficult to obtain funding elsewhere. Nearly half of these businesses were not confident that they would have been able to go ahead anyway without finance from the Department's funds. The Department failed to establish a robust framework, and associated baselines, against which to measure the impact of the funds: objectives were not clearly set out or prioritized. It was therefore not in a position to judge whether the taxpayers' investment offered value for money. The Department, however, is now planning to take steps to strengthen its programme management and evaluation so that it is better able to demonstrate value for money. The taxpayer is unlikely to receive financial returns on investment from the early funds. The £74 million invested in the Regional Venture Capital Funds, for example, is currently valued in the Department's accounts at £5.9 million and the Department will get a financial return only if the individual funds outperform the preferential 10 per cent return to other investors. The economic benefits derived from the programme have yet to be measured.
Shared Services In The Research Councils
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Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
language : en
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Release Date : 2011-10-21
Shared Services In The Research Councils written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and has been published by The Stationery Office this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2011-10-21 with Science categories.
The implementation of a project to create a centre to streamline back-office functions - such as finance, HR and procurement - for the seven research councils has so far not been good value for money. When finally operational 15 months late, the Centre was delivering services across the five functions planned but some services, particularly finance, are not yet where they need to be. By the end of March 2011 the project was £51 million over budget. Available evidence indicates that to date the project has underachieved against total expected savings by at least £73 million. The original business case, which led to the decision to opt for the shared service centre, was flawed. The projected savings to be made from better procurement were uncertain and a proper financial analysis should have prompted a re-evaluation of the available options. The reasons for the overrun and delay included complex governance arrangements, slow decision making and the lack of a clear vision for the project from the outset. The contract with Fujitsu, the supplier of the Centre's ICT systems, was terminated wasting £13 million because some elements of the system then had to be rebuilt in-house. When the project did start to go off-course, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, as sponsor Department, did not intervene. A single shared service platform has the potential, if managed effectively, to offer broader benefits through streamlined processes. The report concludes that there is significant scope for further savings.
Financial Management In Government
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Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
language : en
Publisher: Stationery Office
Release Date : 2013-06-13
Financial Management In Government written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and has been published by Stationery Office this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2013-06-13 with Political Science categories.
The Government's fiscal consolidation programme is now expected to last longer than originally planned, and wide-ranging service reforms are being implemented. The role of financial managers is therefore critical to ensuring that opportunities to improve value for money are realized. The Finance Transformation Programme has been set up to develop the skills and capabilities of finance professionals, and qualified professionals are better represented at senior levels. However, given the importance and urgency of the challenges presented by fiscal consolidation and public service reform, further improvements will be needed to support sustainable public service delivery with fewer resources in the longer term. Government is a long way from ensuring that decision-making is routinely based on robust information. Departments often do not integrate financial management with their strategic and operational planning. Departments and other public bodies have generally managed within reduced spending limits up to now, but some of the savings they have made are more sustainable than others. In order to respond to financial and demand challenges, government needs to go further than controlling spending, by redesigning public services so that they operate permanently at lower cost. The NAO recommends that the Treasury ensure a more effective leadership to better enable and incentivise the finance profession to confront the challenges it faces. The Government's Finance Leadership Group should take responsibility for diagnosing the key current financial management challenges facing the finance profession and the wider civil service, and for addressing them quickly