§ 55. Mr. Tom Coxasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action is being taken by his Department in helping black business initiatives.
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§ Mr. WaddingtonOn 26 September 1985 my right hon. Friend announced an initiative to promote black business enterprise. New business advice centres to provide the full range of local enterprise agency services are being established in inner city areas where there is a significant Afro-Caribbean population. These agencies will be open on equal terms to all sections of the community. The agencies are funded and managed jointly by the Home Office, the local authority, the private sector and local community organisations involved in business advice. The first three agencies are being set up in Birmingham, North London and Lewisham. Staff are being appointed and it is expected that the agencies will be fully operational within the next few months.
In addition, the following local authority posts designed to help the development of ethnic minority businesses are supported by grant from the Home Office paid under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966:
Local Authority Title and number of business development posts funded Berkshire 1 Business Adviser and clerical support Blackburn 1 Economic Development Officer Bradford 1 Projects Officer Brent 1 Principal Business Adviser 1 Business Adviser 1 Finance Systems Adviser and clerical support Coventry 1 Ethnic Minority Planning Officer Derbyshire 2 Officers in Derby Small Business Centre Hackney 1 Business Development Officer 1 Business Promotion Officer Hammersmith 1 Business Adviser Islington 1 Ethnic Minority Employment Development Officer Kensington and Chelsea 1 Manager 1 Finance Officer 1 Technical Services Officer 1 Research Officer 1 Secretarial Assistant 1 Small Business Adviser Lewisham 1 Business Development Officer Sheffield 2 Business Development Workers 1 Training Development Worker 1 Research Worker Southwark 2 Black Enterprise Advisers Tower Hamlets 1 Business Adviser 1 Community Liaison Planner 1 Administrative Assistant West Midlands 1 Initiatives Officer 4 Business Advisers 1 Property/Legal Officer and clerical support