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<p><del class="ministerial">Government’s Start-Up Loans scheme supports people wanting
to start a business and has provided over 35,000 loans worth over £200 million. We’re
committed to supporting start-ups by cutting taxes on small businesses, extending
rate relief and increasing the Employment Allowance.</del></p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial">In
Cambridge, Government has invested £4.8m in the establishment of the Sir John Bradfield
Technology Centre to support business incubation on Cambridge Science Park. This is
in addition to a range of other growth-enabling investments made through the £500m
Greater Cambridge City Deal, the £109.1m Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Growth
Deal and a three year funding package to support development of a local business Growth
Hub</del></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">Government fully supports and actively
encourages students who wish to start a business. This commitment was reiterated in
the recent grant letter from Ministers to the Higher Education Funding Council for
England (HEFCE) where we welcomed the Council’s commitment to:</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">
</ins></p><ul><li><ins class="ministerial">The continued funding and support for the
work of National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB), which we see as key
to promoting enhanced university and business activity. NCUB gathers evidence and
brings together university and business leaders, sharing best practice. The NCUB’s
work covers all aspects of the interaction between Businesses and Higher Education,
including addressing skills shortages, work experience and graduate recruitment.</ins></li></ul><p><ins
class="ministerial"> </ins></p><ul><li><ins class="ministerial">To continue to promote
knowledge exchange through the Higher Education Innovation Fund, which is focussed
on promoting entrepreneurship and enterprise education, as well as the commercialisation
of research.</ins></li></ul><p><ins class="ministerial">In addition to this, the QAA
issued guidance to Higher Education Institutions in 2012 to promote best practice
in developing enterprise and entrepreneurship education.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">
</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">According to HESA, support provided by universities
led to 4,600 graduate start-ups in 2013-14[1] an increase of 1,100 on the previous
year.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong> </strong></ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>
</strong></ins></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">[1] HE-BCI (Higher Education
– Business Community Interaction) survey</ins></p>
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