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Mr. Richards
To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many small firms merit award for research and technology stage I and stage 2 awards were won by companies in each region of the United Kingdom over the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Leigh
Between May 1992 and April this year the number of stage 1 and stage 2 small firms merit awards for research and technology (SMART) scheme were as follows:
| Region | Stage 1 | Stage 2 |
| East | 17 | 7 |
| East Midlands | 17 | 7 |
| North East | 8 | 3 |
| Northern Ireland | 6 | 3 |
| North West | 16 | 10 |
Region
| Stage 1
| Stage 2
|
| Scotland | 17 | 13 |
| South East | 31 | 20 |
| South West | 20 | 13 |
| Wales | 16 | 8 |
| West Midlands | 18 | 14 |
| Yorks/Humberside | 14 | 10 |
| Total | 180 | 108 |
There have been a record number of entries to this year's SMART stage I competition. When the 180 winners are announced at the end of July over 1,000 projects will have been supported under the scheme since its inception in 1986.