§ Mr. David ShawTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence 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. Neubert[pursuant to the reply, 24 July 1989, col. 554]: Due to an arithmetical error an incorrect figure was shown. The number of small firms receiving payment on direct contract has increased from some 4,000 in 1986–87 to over 5,500 in 1988–89 (not 7,000 as previously shown).