HC Deb 28 April 1994 vol 242 cc368-9
6. Mr. Bellingham

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he next expects to meet representatives of the small business community to discuss economic regeneration.

Mr. Tim Smith

I regularly meet representatives of small businesses through company visits and formal meetings to discuss a wide range of issues, including economic regeneration.

Mr. Bellingham

In the aftermath of the dreadful sectarian killings which have taken place, many people may be filled with doom and gloom. Does my hon. Friend agree that there is one bright light in the form of the recent extremely encouraging economic news from the Province? Is not that in no small part due to the courage and drive of the small firms sector?

Mr. Smith

My hon. Friend is entirely right about the good news on the economic front, and that stems from large and small firms. I should like to pay tribute to the work of the local enterprise development unit, LEDU, in encouraging small businesses to grow and export.

Mr. McGrady

Will the Minister undertake to review his departmental designations of deprived areas for the purpose of industrial regeneration, as they do not reflect the multiple deprivation and the needs of many areas, including my own? Will he recognise that there is a connection between the environmental issue and economic regeneration? Will he knock some of the quangos' heads together in the rural areas that most of my hon. Friends represent so that they work in harmony, rather than in opposition to one another, both at the Department of Environment and the Department of Economic Development?

Mr. Smith

At the moment, we assess unemployment on the basis of travel-to-work areas. I shall have another look at whether there is a more sophisticated way to achieve what the hon. Gentleman has in mind.

Mr. A. Cecil Walker

In his discussions with the small business community, will the Minister stress the advantages of locating within the north Belfast enterprise zones and the small business units in that community?

Mr. Smith

I should certainly like to encourage more firms to invest in both north and west Belfast because of the high rates of unemployment in that part of the city. I was pleased to attend the other day, with the hon. Member for Belfast, West (Dr. Hendron), an expansion programme at Delta Print and Packaging and I hope to see more such expansions in that part of the city.

Mr. Fabricant

Is my hon. Friend aware that a group of business men in Atlanta, Georgia recently voted Northern Ireland as the prime location for investment in the European Union? Is not that a tribute to the incentives of the Northern Ireland Office to introduce businesses into Northern Ireland?

Mr. Smith

Yesterday afternoon, I went to see the staff of the Industrial Development Board who work on inward investment to congratulate them on what they have achieved—they have been working all over the world, including in Atlanta—because we have now seen a number of successes and substantial jobs announcements.

Mr. Stott

In view of the report by Professor Derek Birrell and Carol Wilson, will the Minister confirm the Government's continued support for "Making Belfast Work", the initiative which they started some years ago? Will he also outline the steps that the Government will take to encourage private industry to invest and create full-time jobs, not part-time jobs, of which there are far too many, particularly in the initiative to which I have just referred?

Mr. Smith

On Tuesday afternoon, my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State announced that the "Making Belfast Work" initiative will continue for a further three years. Some £120 million has already been devoted to that initiative and we are determined to ensure that the resources devoted over the next three years are targeted even more accurately on those most in need.