§ Mr. David ShawTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the achievements of his Department and his policies in helping small businesses over the last 12 months compared with the previous 12 months; and if he will publish the performance indicators by which his Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring.
§ Mr. ViggersThe Government are committed to maximising the contribution that small firms can make to strengthening the Northern Ireland economy. A major priority is to help the Province's small businesses to prepare for the completion of the single European market. The publicly funded local enterprise development unit (LEDU) offers support to firms employing up to 50 who are establishing or expanding their businesses. For the year ended 31 March 1989, LEDU achieved record levels of activity, surpassing for the eighth successive year the performance of previous years in terms of jobs promoted.
The main performance indicators used, and the results achieved for the past two years, are as follows—
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1987–88 1988–89 Number of jobs promoted 4,570 5,004 Cost per job promoted £4520 £4518 Percentage public contribution to total project cost 36 per cent. 32 per cent.