- This Subsidy Scheme of Particular Interest concerned a scheme to provide support to ailing and insolvent small and medium sized enterprises in Wales in the form of interest-bearing loans. The scheme’s total size is £40.5m with a maximum loan size to individual enterprises of £2.5m.
- Our key takeaways from the Subsidy Advice Unit (SAU) report are:
- You should include all relevant information about your subsidy, especially when involved in a large scheme, to ensure the SAU does not have to seek clarification from you. For example, this may include information on its valuation, maximum amount to be granted and potential interaction with other legacy subsidy schemes or the Minimal Financial Assistance regime.
- Where you have a similar related European scheme that will run parallel to your subsidy, ensure you highlight if there are any crossovers between the two. You should also consider the potential effects of your scheme on both UK and international competition and investment.
- You should include explicit statements on the counterfactual supported by forecasts of the likely aggregated impacts expected (e.g. considering the rate of business failure in the local economy and potential job losses that could flow from this).
- Information should be included within the main section of the assessment describing how you will ensure the additionality requirement will be met, including clearly setting out the processes and procedures that will be adopted when carrying out due diligence at the individual business application level.
- In subsidy schemes, your assessment should detail how the scheme design will address any externalities and the approach for individual subsidies made under the overall scheme.
Welsh Government, Development Bank of Wales Rescue and Restructuring Scheme
Posted in Subsidy Advice Report Tracker.
