HC Deb 02 May 1991 vol 190 cc425-6
9. Mr. Bellingham

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent measures he has taken to support small businesses.

Mr. Needham

The Government remain totally committed to supporting small businesses primarily through the work of the Local Enterprise Development Unit, Northern Ireland's small business agency.

Mr. Bellingham

I am grateful to the noble Lord for that helpful reply. May I congratulate him on the excellent work that he is doing in the Province, which has the full support of so many of my hon. Friends. Can he tell the House about the role played by LEDU in supporting small firms? Does he agree that Northern Ireland will not solve its economic problems unless it has a thriving small firms sector and an enterprise culture that flourishes?

Mr. Needham

I agree with my hon. Friend that it is crucial that we have a successful small enterprise side to the economy. LEDU has so far opened 30 centres and has provided some 1 million sq ft of space for small businesses and over 2,000 jobs. Furthermore, today it has announced the figures for last year, when it promoted just under 7,000 jobs, which is 1,000 beyond its target. By all the statistics that we have, the Northern Ireland small business sector is doing extremely well.

Mr. Jim Marshall

Does the Minister accept that, welcome though the initiatives are to small businesses, they are doing absolutely nothing to halt the avalanche of job losses that we have seen this year? The Minister must recognise that nearly 2,000 jobs have been lost in the first four months of the year, with nearly 1,000 job losses being announced in the past week. Does he realise that unless there is a change in Government policy or in Government, or preferably both, there will be no substantial change in the employment position in the Province?

Mr. Needham

The increase in unemployment in Northern Ireland from March 1990 to March 1991 was 0.4 per cent. compared with 66 per cent. in the south of England. The numbers in employment in Northern Ireland in the same period increased by 3,000 or 0.6 per cent., whereas in the rest of the country they decreased by 1 per cent. If we look at what small businesses are doing in the "Make Belfast Work" area, we see that they are more successful at reducing the numbers of the long-term unemployed there than elsewhere in the Province. All the economic commentators within Northern Ireland and outside are pointing out that Northern Ireland is riding the recession better than any other region; we are very pleased about that.

Rev. Ian Paisley

rose——

Mr. Speaker

I will call the hon. Gentleman, but would he like to choose between this question and question 10?

Rev. Ian Paisley

I will take this one. A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush, Mr. Speaker.

How can the Minister mislead the House today by saying——

Hon. Members

"Withdraw."

Mr. Speaker

Order. The hon. Gentleman must withdraw that. A Minister does not mislead the House.

Rev. Ian Paisley

I will reword it. How can the Minister pretend to the House today that he is supporting small businesses when he knows very well that the cash which those small businesses are chasing comes from the larger employers and from the employees of the major industries? Is he aware that more than 1,000 jobs have been lost in Northern Ireland in the past few days? That means that those people will not be in a position to support new small industries. Is not he aware that there will be so much unemployment that all the small businesses will be in jeopardy?

Mr. Needham

I accept that we have had job losses and I bitterly regret that, but at the same time we have a large number of companies in Northern Ireland that are continuing to employ people and taking on staff. For example, Shorts has taken on 1,300 people in the last year; Harland and Wolff has been taking on staff; Daéwoo has taken on staff; and Montupet is still recruiting. The hon. Gentleman does the economy of the Province no benefit at all if he tries to knock it and reduce confidence at a time when everybody accepts that it is doing better than any other part of the economy.