EEDA - Business Support Simplification Programme

Business Support Simplification Programme

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Business Support Simplification Programme

Simplifying business support

What is the Business Support Simplification Programme (BSSP)?

The East of England has a thriving and entrepreneurial business community, with over 430,000 businesses choosing to locate here. If the business community is to continue to prosper, it is essential that it has access to the right support that is tailored to its needs.

Research has shown that businesses receiving support and advice are more likely to flourish, gain competitive advantage and create high value companies that benefit local economies. However, business support in the past has come through multiple channels leaving some businesses feeling a little confused. This is not good for businesses, especially for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) which may need the support most.

That is why the national Business Support Simplification Programme (BSSP) has been introduced. It has streamlined the system by reducing the number of support schemes from over 3,000 to 30 but offering the same level of service - alongside making Business Link the main channel through which businesses can access support.

What is business support?

BSSP defines government business support as publicly funded non-tax interventions that aim to assist potential or existing entrepreneurs, employers, enterprises or intermediaries successfully develop their business activity. For example:

direct support through grants and subsidies and specific schemes
indirect support, for example through workforce development
advice - and brokerage to advice - on tax and regulation, employment, occupational health and safety and trading standards, business processes and other business-specific issues.

It includes support provided by Government Departments and their Agencies, Universities, Non-Departmental Public Bodies, Regional Development Agencies, Sector Skills Councils (and LSCs), Local Authorities, and, in some cases, independent organizations in receipt of some government funding.

Product Portfolio

Product Summary

The department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has produced a number of documents which provide detailed information on the programme and policy behind it:

Solutions for Business
‘Solutions for Business — funded by Government’ is a package of business support to help companies start, grow and succeed. The document gives a brief overview of the 30 products, what they aim to achieve along with eligibility criteria.

Solutions for Business Supporting Success
This publication explains why government has introduced the programme, what are the Solutions for Business products and how they will work in the new business support environment.

The Economic Drivers of Government- Funded Business Support
This paper summarises the economic rationale and evidence that supports the simplified portfolio of business support outlined in the accompanying Solutions for Business policy document.

What further progress has been made in the East of England?

Simplifying business support has been a priority in the East of England since 2006, as identified in the ‘Better for Business' Regional Business Support Strategy.
EEDA is an active member of the East of England Skills and Competitiveness Partnership which is acting as the BSSP Regional Advisory Group (RAG) to oversee the delivery of BSSP in the East of England.

A Regional Transition Management Plan (RTMP) has been developed that sets out the East of England's approach to BSSP and the work that will be carried out over the next few months with partners in the region.

To date the EEDA has mapped, at a product level, all business support funded through EEDA and have met with every local authority and Sub-Regional Economic Partnership to support them in mapping the support given through local authorities. The mapping has been matched with the final product descriptors.

A number of Product Introduction Plans have been and will continue to be developed for each of the products and small Task and Finish groups are being set up. The Task and Finish groups will flesh out the detail of how the new products will be introduced — for example how existing offers will be merged into the new products, how and when the marketing and branding will be applied and, where appropriate, how the opportunities for co-funding will be facilitated.