§ Mr. Gryllsasked the Secretary of State for Industry what is the total number of enterprises in the United Kingdom with between 20 and 200 employees in (a) manufacturing and (b) service industries.
§ Mr. David Mitchell[pursuant to his reply, 10 March 1980, c. 413]: Comprehensive statistics of enterprises analysed by employment size are not available. However, it is estimated that in the United Kingdom in 1976 there were 20,400 enterprises in the private sector which had between 20 and 200 persons who were engaged in manufacturing. There are no equivalent figures available for service industry but in Great Britain in 1976 there were 6,500 businesses which had between 20 and 200 persons who were engaged in retailing.
§ Mr. Michael McGuireasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will give details of the measures introduced by the Government since 3 May 1979 specially to help small businesses employ more workers; and what estimate he has made of the increased numbers employed to date and over the next 12 months.
§ Mr. David Mitchell[pursuant to his reply, 11 March 1980]: The changes made by order under the Employment Protection Act and the proposals in the Employment Protection Bill will remove significant disincentives to small businesses to increase the numbers they employ. A number of the other measures introduced by the Government which will help small businesses were listed in the reply which I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeen, South (Mr. Sproat) on 27 February [c. 565–66].