A business chief has hit out at quangos for wasting money and "creating very little."

Bill Moses, chairman of the River Medway Business Users Association, says the money going into bureaucracy and quangos would be better spent on small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

He claims that Business Link and others such as the South East England Development Agency "simply consume taxpayers’ money, tick boxes and create very little."

Mr Moses, who lives in Faversham and also chairs Thanet and East Kent Chamber of Commerce, and Dover Counselling Centre, believes that the vast funds spent on such self-serving official and semi-official bodies would be better invested directly in SMEs.

"If this money was spent effectively, it could make a substantial difference to the business community rather than just creating quango jobs that simply consume those same, valuable resources," he said. "Countless millions of pounds are wasted in this way. Those responsible should be held to account."

He called on SEEDA and others to do more to support SMEs across the region, rather than focusing attention on larger "more fashionable" projects that he feels could manage well enough on their own. He added, "It should not be forgotten that 99 per cent of companies in the UK are SMEs."

He says that SEEDA spent more than two years writing a document entitled, "Coastal South East: A Framework for Action." He claims that the six pages of text, published in March, are unlikely to inspire SMEs.

He says sentences such as: "The framework for Action does not replace strategies and plans that have been developed at sub-regional and local levels" are of little help to a small shop in Margate trying to compete with chain stores or a local haulier facing steep increases in the cost of diesel.

Mr Moses maintains that commercial sector input is essential in ensuring that Kent remains competitive and responsive to innovation and opportunity.

He said: "Expensive reports flatter the quangos that produce them but deceive the companies that pay for them." He urged SEEDA to hold its next meeting in Kent. "If SEEDA genuinely wants to hear the voice of SMEs, we will provide the forum."

Robert Clewley, chairman of Business Link Kent - now called Business Support Kent - dismissed Mr Moses’ criticism. His agency had helped 2,500 SMEs in the past year, and would help a further 3,000 in the coming year.

Those efforts had raised their gross value added (GVA) by £130m and made a huge contribution to the Kent economy. "We don’t waste money and we create an awful lot of added value for businesses in Kent," he said.

A SEEDA spokesperson said: "Over the past three years (2005 - 2008) SEEDA's projects and programmes have assisted 132,000 businesses to improve their performance. The vast majority of these companies are SMEs, many helped through Business Link, which is funded and managed in the region by SEEDA.

"Furthermore, SEEDA has helped to create or attract 7,600 businesses to the region. The Agency has levered in £630 million of investment and remediated 200 hectares of brownfield land. SEEDA has created or safeguarded 18,000 jobs, helped 32,000 people to get work and assisted 142,000 with skills development."