Applications for funding from the Enterprise and Business Development Fund

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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 5th JUNE 2007

Question

1. W ould the Minister advise memberswhich sectors of the economy have sofar applied for, or been granted funds from the Enterprise and Business Developmentfund?
2. A r e the reductions outlined within the draft 2007 States Business Plan indairyindustry funding planned for 2007-2010 over andabove those included in the Rural Economy Strategy plan to reduce Quality Milk Paymentand the DairySupportServicesGrant?
3. In reference to the 2007 Economic DevelopmentDepartmentbusinessplan,would the Minister advise membershow -

( i) the £2,240,162 allocated to Tourism and Marketing funds to develop and implement a brand

marketing strategy to promote Jersey for year-round tourism' will be used?

(i i ) the £505,000 allocated to Rural Economy Rural Initiative Scheme – grant based scheme' will be

used?

(i ii ) the £25,000 allocated to the Rural Economy to promote relocation and development of high-value /

low-weight land based produce' will be used?

4. W  ill the Minister advisetheAssemblyof the amounts allocated in2006 to the respective areas outlined abovein question (c), and detail how thesesumswere used ?

Answer

1. T o date the retail, construction, manufacturing, tourism, hospitality, ICT, marine leisure and rura economy sectors have applied for, or been granted,funds from the Enterprise and Business Developmen budget.
2. T h ere has been hardly any reduction in the dairy budget in the published 2007 budget. The small reduction (approx. £3,000) in 2007 is from a 1% reduction in support to service provision for the industry whichwas less of a reduction than outlined in the RuralEconomy Strategy. The Quality Milk Payment remains thesamein2007asitwas in 2006 aslaidout in the RuralEconomy Strategy. The Departmentis working onbudgets for 2008 and beyondandany reduction will be based onthe Rural EconomyStrategy and any changesin the industrysince its adoption.
3. (i ) E ach year the marketing campaignsareshaped to meetmarket conditions. For2007 the leadmedium in the UKwasTelevision with a new commercial costing in excessof£400,000(thiscommercial can be used againin2008). This has beensupportedbynational press, radio, direct mail andambient media. The total UKconsumercampaign cost £1.6m with some£300,000of that attracting equal investment from the industry.

 I n t h e E  uropean markets much of our marketing is undertaken in partnership with carriers, tour

operators and other tourism organisations who contribute to the total spend.

(i i) T he budget is used to award grants under the Rural Initiative Scheme which is designed to promote efficiencies, diversification and entrepreneurship in the Rural Economy. Its simple aim is to help

businesses in the rural economy become more productive and efficient. The explanatory documents,

which set out the types and conditions of grants, and the application forms are available on the www.gov,je

website in the Rural Economy section.

(i ii )  T his is a project to investigate the feasibility of attracting companies that produce high value crops

to Jersey. These included pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, essential oil and other types of new high value novel crops. The work initially involves a desktop study of cross matching Jersey's climate, growing conditions and other requirements to the range of novel crops coming onto the market. This will pinpoint key suitable crops and ranges of crops. It is expected that under half the £25k will be spent this year as most of the initial work is now being performed in-house.

4. (i ) A restructure ofthebusiness planning andbudgetprocessfor2007 makes a direct comparison with 2006 unsound.However the total Tourism Marketingspendwas reduced by £380,000 for 2007. Full details of the breakdownof the 2006 campaign and spend are published in the Jersey Tourism AnnualReport – 2006 in Focus.

(i i ) In 2006, £460,000 was allocated to the Rural Initiative Scheme. This supported approximately 25

business projects from 44 applications. £360,000 was granted towards projects with a combined cost of over £2.5 million. £100,000 was additionally given towards the costs of the abattoir upgrade.

(i ii )  T his is a new scheme that was launched in 2007 hence there has been no corresponding spend in

previous years.