§ Mr. David ShawTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the impact of(a) his policies and (b) the work of his Department in helping small businesses in the past 12 months as against the previous 12 months; and if he will publish the performance indicators by which his Department monitors the impact and the statistical results of such monitoring. [39143]
§ Mr. Ancram[holding answer 22 July 1996]: Assistance towards small firms in Northern Ireland is delivered for the Department of Economic Development by its agency the local enterprise development unit— LEDU.
LEDU's strategy forms an integral part of the Government's approach to encourage competitiveness and growth among small businesses and I am extremely encouraged that LEDU continues to build upon its excellent performance over past years. The recent study by the Northern Ireland Economic Research Council on LEDU's impact on small firm performance in Northern Ireland from 1989 to 1994, concluded that the agency is making a considerable impact on the small business population, with a 54 per cent. employment increase amongst LEDU-assisted firms over the period. In addition, turnover amongst LEDU "growth" clients increased by 40 per cent. in real terms and external sales by these companies increased by 63 per cent.
LEDU launched its new corporate plan for the period 1995 to 1998 on 29 June 1995 and it includes a revised range of performance indicators, the key ones being:
Performance indicators 1995–96 Targets 1995–96 Actual Contracts with growth companies 150 218 Contracts with established companies 200 228 Companies participating in export development programmes 12 12 Companies participating in market awareness programmes 120 67 Startups with export potential 90 127 LEDU's end of year results for 1995–96 will be announced in September with the publication of its annual report. These will include the NIERC survey results for 1995–96.