§ 43. Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has any plans to set up 189W additional small firms centres; what liaison there is between existing centres and local enterprise agencies; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. TrippierIn May my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland opened the 13th small firms centre in Edinburgh. I have no plans to provide additional small firms centres at this time.
There is considerable and close contact between the small firms service and local enterprise agencies. SFS counselling now takes place in some LEA offices; the LEAs make extensive use of SFS publications; and SFS managers and LEA directors meet regularly. I am encouraging the development of these contacts.