Ten Years of the Urban Programme 1981-91: The Impact and Implications of its Assistance to Small Businesses

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a comparative study of small business land and premises support schemes operating under the Urban Program me (UP) in the London boroughs of Wandsworth and Haringey. The results of this study are used to evaluate whether politics makes a difference to policy outcomes in local areas. The article indicates that there are crucial differences in the policies of the two boroughs studied and that several key elements of the two boroughs' different approaches to small business support were particularly successful, such as low business rates and the targeting of niche market businesses. However, both boroughs failed to integrate effectively their UP policies within a wider economic development strategy. Given that the type of small business support policies examined here continue to form an important part of contemporary local economic policy, the author argues that these findings offer important lessons. It is recommended that this issue of co-ordination must be addressed by all bodies administering local economic support policies in the future.