Question

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what percentage of Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) projects approved in the last three years have undergone post-disbursement audits, broken down by grant quantum and sector; (b) what is the total amount of grants recovered from companies found to be non-compliant with grant terms or unable to demonstrate meaningful productivity improvements from their PSG-funded purchases; and (c) what specific enforcement actions have been taken in these cases.

Written Answer by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong

1. The Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) supports businesses to improve productivity and enhance business processes through a wide range of pre-approved solutions. Post-disbursement of the grant, Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) conducts regular audits on a sampling basis to ensure compliance with the grant conditions.

2. In the last three years, more than 1,100 approved PSG projects, with a total grant quantum of S$8.7 million, were subjected to post-disbursement audits. About 50% of these were from the food and beverage and retail and services sectors, with the remaining from sectors including manufacturing and engineering, building and construction, and wholesale trade. This breakdown is broadly in-line with the PSG application numbers across these sectors.

3. About 3% of the projects subjected to post-disbursement audits were assessed to be non-compliant with the grant conditions and required rectification actions, such as a claw back of disbursed grants.

4. For recipients found to be in breach of the grant conditions, EnterpriseSG will withhold or, if disbursement had been made, claw back the grant. EnterpriseSG will also subject these companies to enhanced scrutiny for future applications.

5. Pre-approved solutions found to be less effective in helping companies achieve productivity improvements will be removed from PSG’s list as part of agencies’ regular review to ensure PSG remains fit-for-purpose.