NAO released a report last Wednesday stating that the 2.6bn plus spent by the government, which includes 208m handed out by the Department of Trade and Industrys SBS, has not been properly justified because the service is not proving an effective umbrella over other departments.

"SBS does not receive the information it needs from other departments to assess and report on overall progress," said the NAO statement. "None of the evaluations to date has assessed the impact of SBS as a whole, or interpreted the governments contribution to meeting high-level targets and aims."

The government published its action plan for small businesses in 2004 and the SBS is responsible for monitoring progress against the plan.

BPIF public affairs officer Lizzy Hawkins welcomed the report saying, "anything that increases the clout of the SBS is a good thing".

"It seems they simply dont have the resources and sometimes the SBS is used as a figleaf for the lack of action by other departments," she said.

NAO recommendations
- Measurement of progress should reflect impact of government action, not external factors
- Pull together scheme evaluations to measure against government-wide targets
- Measure cost-effectiveness of actions
- Specify contributions expected by each government department
- Monitor commitments and resources as promised by each department
- Improve authority and influence on all departments