Business Link facing the axe in programme of cuts

Jun 8 2010 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal

DAVID Cameron’s claim to be building up the number of private businesses in the North East was undermined last night as it emerged an agency responsible for creating 5,000 jobs a year is for the chop.

The £20m-a-year regional Business Link set up to help small businesses from Northumberland to Teesside is likely to go as part of a nationwide programme of cuts.

The blow comes as council insiders claim more than £50m will be wiped off the North East economy even before emergency budget cuts are revealed later this month.

Cuts in police budgets, arts grants and health spending and cuts to council budgets have all trickled out since the Government announced £6bn worth of immediate cuts last month.

As spending chiefs await news on which council grants will be targeted this week, and which projects they will have to fight to save, business leaders have said it is vital they receive certainty on what funding streams will go.

Around 35,000 businesses in the region have had contact with Business Link, which has its base in Seaham, County Durham. The scheme, which offers services from start-up support to funding, is administered by Business and Enterprise North East.

Mark Prisk, the Conservative small-business minister, said: “I remain very sceptical about the effectiveness of the existing regional Business Links and that is why I am examining them very carefully.”

His attack on the agency means more than 700 jobs are at risk in Durham, a county which has already faired badly under the new Liberal Conservative Government.