§ Mr. McLeishTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will give the amount of money spent or committed from the business development consultancy service initiative, introduced on 31 March for each standard region in the period 31 March to the most recent date for which information is available.
§ Mr. AtkinsThe business planning and financial and information systems consultancy initiatives were launched on 29 March 1988. So far no consultancies under either initiative have been completed. In the period from 31 March to 17 June 821 cases have been referred to the scheme contractors who are managing the two initiatives. The actual cost to the Department can only be known 483W when the consultancies have been completed but estimates of the commitment for each DTI region* and for Scotland and Wales are as follows:
DTI RegionjCountry Commitment (£,000) North East 145 North West 504 Yorkshire and Humberside 252 West Midlands 192 East Midlands 183 South West 113 South East: Cambridge 132 London 406 Reading 107 Reigate 151 Scotland 164 Wales 117 Total 2,466 *Data are collected by DTI regions and for Scotland and Wales. DTI regions are similar to standard economic regions except that DTI north-west includes Cumbria and the High Peak district which are in the north and east midlands standard regions respectively and DTI south-east includes the East Anglia standard region.