Employers face a complex web of support services which makes it hard for them to know where to look for help and wastes taxpayer money, MPs have warned.

An inquiry said the Government was involved in more than 600 different schemes designed to support business and firms struggle with the range of different organisations and measures, which include Local Enterprise Partnerships, City Deals, Growth Hubs and local councils.

The warning was issued by the Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, chaired by Black Country MP Adrian Bailey (Lab, West Bromwich West).

Their findings were based on evidence from businesses themselves. Mike Cherry, National Policy Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, told the inquiry: “You have that plethora that is out there, without very much steerage or guidance.”

And he added: “You are very clearly seeing duplication. You are seeing overlapping. You are seeing a waste of public sector finances.”

The MPs warned that the number of different schemes, focussing on access to finance, support for exports, manufacturing and efforts to encourage local growth, made it hard to check whether any individual scheme was making a difference.

They called on the Government to ask the National Audit Office to carry at an audit to see whether business support schemes offered value for money.

The MPs also warned that, nearly seven years on from the banking crisis, British businesses an particularly smaller firms were still finding it difficult to obtain access to finance.

Mr Bailey said: “Creating the best possible conditions for British business, particularly small and medium sized enterprises, to thrive is vital to our country’s long-term economic prosperity.

“While the Government’s current approach is largely positive, we found businesses are not always clear about the support on offer, finding it poorly communicated, confusing and not focussed enough on business need.

“If the UK is going to become one of the best places in Europe to start, finance, and grow a business, then Government needs to do better at getting the word out so businesses know what support exists”.

But ministers said the Government was already in the process of simplifying support for industry.

Business Minister Matthew Hancock said: “This report would have a point if it wasn’t out of date already. It used to be the case that there were hundreds of different separate schemes to help small business.

“But in December we brought them all together in our Great Business website.

“Now, all schemes will be either under UKTI for exports, the British Business Bank for finance, and the new Business Growth Service for advice.” And Business Secretary Vince Cable said tens of thousands of small businesses had received finance with government help.

He said: “Since 2010, the government’s trade and investment body UKTI has significantly boosted the level of trade support available, almost doubling the number of businesses it helps to export and on course to exceed our target of helping 50,000 companies in 2015.”

Meanwhile, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles announced companies in the Birmingham Enterprise Zone have created nearly 1,000 jobs so far, along with hundreds of additional construction jobs.