The Earl of Dundonaldasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether Scottish Enterprise as a whole provides better value for money than its predecessor, the Scottish Development Agency.
§ The Minister of State, Scottish Office (Lord Fraser of Carmyllie)Direct comparisons are difficult since Scottish Enterprise has wider functions than the Scottish Development Agency or the Training Agency, both of which it replaced. However its integrated approach to enterprise, training and environment, and its ability to take account of local priorities through its network of local enterprise companies, offer greater potential for increased value for money. This has been reflected in improved performance and greater private sector involvement in several of the programmes which it took over from its predecessors.
The Earl of Dundonaldasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will.give a full breakdown of all administration costs of Scottish Enterprise and its subsidiaries compared with the administration costs of the former Scottish Development Agency. Lord Fraser of Carmyllie: The information is given in the table below:
78WA
£ million Scottish Development Agency Training Agency in Scotland Scottish Enterprise 1990–91 33.0 16.1 — 1991–92 — — 56.3 1992–93 — — 60.1 1993–94 — — 55.5 The administration costs of Scottish Enterprise are not directly comparable with those of the Scottish Development Agency. On replacing the Scottish Development Agency on 1 April 1991, Scottish Enterprise took over responsibility from the Training Agency for the delivery of government training programmes in Scotland. The administration costs of Scottish Enterprise are based on the delivery of all its functions and are not allocated separately.