§ 15. Mr. Bellinghamasked the Paymaster General how many local enterprise agencies have so far been set up; and how many jobs he estimates they have helped create.
§ Mr. TrippierThere are currently 352 local enterprise agencies throughout the United Kingdom of which 278 are approved under the terms of the Finance Act 1982 which allows business sector sponsors tax relief on their contributions to such bodies.
As regards new job creation, survey information collected on behalf of Business in the Community earlier this year indicated that the 90 agencies replying to a question on this had helped create nearly 19,000 new jobs. The survey was a follow up to one completed last year and was funded by my Department.