Industry and Exports (Financial Support) Bill

As I have just explained to the hon. Gentleman, the major lending banks have all been providing training to their staff. There is no doubt that as the scheme is a new product, some people will not have received the training that they may might need in the future, but it is important to recognise that the scheme has only been up and running relatively recently. With lots of these programmes, one cannot suddenly say, "Rustle me up a spending programme that will get £1 billion of taxpayers' money out of the door within a week." I do not think that our taxpayers would expect the Government to do that. We need to ensure that we are effective in what we do by ensuring that the taxpayer gets value for money and that our programmes are properly monitored and evaluated. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that that is the case with the enterprise finance guarantee. I also want to cover the points made about the working capital scheme. The scheme is not open to businesses to apply to, and I think that there has been some confusion about that on the Opposition Benches. We are in advanced negotiations with the banks on guaranteeing some extensive loan portfolios under the working capital scheme, which will help to secure the working capital that is available to many companies in the country. It will also free up additional capital in the process. When we make announcements on the scheme, which we will do, hon. Members will be able to see the scale of the activity that has been involved, but the scheme is not available to businesses. Let me explain the automotive assistance programme. Whereas businesses with a turnover of up to £25 million, regardless of their sector, can be eligible under the enterprise finance guarantee, we have introduced a scheme through the automotive assistance programme for businesses with a turnover of more than £25 million whereby they can access up to £2.3 billion in loan guarantees and, exceptionally, loans. A number of hon. Members talked about Government support for the car sector, and the programme is a key initiative. The hon. Members for Bromsgrove (Miss Kirkbride) and for Henley (John Howell) mentioned it, and I want to tell the hon. Member for Henley that the criteria for the scheme have been made publicly available. As it is relevant to companies in the automotive sector with a turnover of more than £25 million, we are talking about a relatively small number of companies—probably fewer than 200. I have written to most of them to explain the details of the scheme. That scheme is open for business. As I mentioned, we had a seminar last Wednesday when we went through some of the nuts and bolts of the scheme with the banks and with companies in the automotive supply chain, as well as with the major manufacturers. We want to see early applications and there is no reason why companies should not apply to us right now. We will endeavour to assess the applications as quickly as possible, because I recognise the need to support the automotive sector at this crucial time.