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LARGE FIRMS BENEFIT MOST FROM PRO-ACT

Whilst I have had my suspicions, I had always wondered whether Pro-Act had been geared towards large firms or small firms.

Finally, we have the answer, that to a roundabout reply given by John Griffiths to a written question from David Melding.

According to the Deputy Minister, “a total of £5.7m has been committed to companies in Wales with under 250 employees. This is around 63% of the total companies who have been approved for ProAct and 32% of the funding.”

In other words, 68 per cent of the funding allocated under Pro-Act has gone to companies employing more than 250 people i.e. over £12 million has gone to large firms - most of whom can afford to pay for the training themselves.

Indeed, Corus has received £1.1. million to train workers which it admitted were not under threat of redundancy.

Therefore, large firms in Wales have received over twice as much support as SMEs (small to medium enterprises) under the Assembly’s ‘flagship’ programme against the recession.

Compare this with the £7 million which the Assembly Government decided to pay out to extend rate relief in Wales last September.

So much for supporting the small firm sector in Wales during the recession.

Comments

Anonymous said…
But this is in line with their declared policy Dylan -remember the inverted triangle
Most support to growth and larger firms sme are the at the bottom
So whats changed
Its Davids Rossers buddies get the cash
October 27, 2009 9:26 am
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