Enterprise Allowance Scheme
{{Short description|British government financial initiative}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2013}}
The Enterprise Allowance Scheme was an initiative set up by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative UK government which gave a guaranteed income of £40 per week to unemployed people who set up their own business.{{cite web |first=Charles |last=Dellheim |date=1 July 1996 |title= Thatcher's Self Employment |work=Inc. Magazine |url=http://www.inc.com/magazine/19960701/1725.html |access-date=7 October 2010}} It was first announced on 13 November 1981,{{cite web |title= Hansard 15th December 1981 |work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1981/dec/15/enterprise-allowance-scheme#S6CV0015P0_19811215_CWA_147 |date= 15 December 1981 |access-date=11 October 2010}} and piloted between January 1982 and July 1983, funding 3,331 individuals.{{cite web |title= Hansard 16th December 1986 |work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1986/dec/16/enterprise-allowance-scheme |date= 16 December 1986 |access-date=11 October 2010}} Introduced nationwide in 1983 against a background of mass unemployment in Britain, it went on to fund 325,000 people, including Creation Records head Alan McGee; Superdry founder Julian Dunkerton; artist Tracey Emin and the founders of Viz magazine.{{cite news |title=Review – Rejoice! Rejoice! Britain in the 1980s by Alwyn Turner |first=Dominic |last=Sandbrook |newspaper=The Times |date=4 April 2010 |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article7082806.ece |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110615170215/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article7082806.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 June 2011 |access-date=7 October 2010}}{{cite news |title=Tories pledge support for small firms |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=4 April 2010 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/7384969/Tories-pledge-support-for-small-firms.html |access-date=7 October 2010}}
Anyone wishing to claim money under the scheme was required to fund the first £1000 out of their own funds, and also to produce a basic business plan.
Proponents of the scheme believed that it would have a great impact on unemployment, and support entrepreneurship. Critics pointed to figures which suggested that one in six of the start-up businesses failed in the first year, and said that it had no significant impact on unemployment figures as most of the start-ups were sole-trading operations.
A similar scheme, the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance was set up in Ireland.
On 6 October 2010, a plan was announced by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith to revive the scheme, giving mentoring and funding of up to £2000 to those unemployed for over six months and wishing to start up their own business. The funding would include a weekly payment linked to the value of their benefit, and £1000 for the purchase of equipment.{{cite web|title=New scheme to turn jobseekers into entrepreneurs |work=NewStart.com |url=http://www.newstartmag.co.uk/news/article/government-plan-to-turn-jobseekers-into-entrepreneurs/ |access-date=11 October 2010 }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}