A SCHEME designed to help businesses develop and grow has been criticised by MSPs over its “lack of accountability and transparency”.
The Businesses Gateway initiative was created by the Scottish Government, who transferred control of the service to local authorities in 2008. It was intended to provide free business support to small and medium-sized Scottish firms, including help with start ups, growth and local services.
However, the Economy and Fair Work Committee has now expressed concern about the support it provides after an inquiry into the scheme. Convener Gordon Lindhurst said: “There is a lack of alignment, transparency and accountability in Business Gateway, and we found it unacceptable that local authorities do not consistently record and publish targets or financial information.
“It was essential for the committee to hear directly from businesses about their experiences with business support. There is much to be commended, but opportunities have been missed to align local and national economic priorities and to make it easier for businesses to be able to access services.”
The committee also wants all local authorities to reveal their Business Gateway spending in an annual report. MSPs noted that local authorities are responsible for setting their own Business Gateway targets, and found it “unacceptable” that there was “limited transparency” around budgets and performance.
Women’s Enterprise Scotland (WES), a non-profit organisation aiming to boost women’s business activity and the economy, told MSPs there is “inconsistency around terminology” used by Business Gateways, with some referring to women-owned firms and others to women-led operations. Others still refer to businesses “where the primary contact is a woman”.
Some18 lead local authority areas co-ordinate delivery of Business Gateway on behalf of the country’s 32 local authorities.
Just 20% of Scotland’s business base is woman-owned and WES said data must be reliable to bridge the gap: “We need consistency in what is being tracked and measured across the enterprise support system.”
MSPs added that appointing a “national head of women in business” would also help to boost support for female-owned firms by enterprise agencies.
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