§ 28. Mr. CranTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the progress being made under his Department's "Making Belfast Work" initiative; and what resources have so far been committed to it.
§ Mr. NeedhamThe "Making Belfast Work" initiative was launched in July 1988 to reinforce, through specifically targeted programmes, the efforts being made to address the economic, educational, social and environmental problems in the most disadvantaged areas of Belfast. The initiative is delivered under a strategy published in January 1989, which is designed to address problems of unemployment, lack of skills, low educational achievement, poor health and a bad environment.
More than 100 separate projects—large and small—were operational during 1989–90; of these, more than 80 are being continued or expanded in the current financial year in addition to 40 new projects which have been introduced. There are encouraging signs of progress; for example in 1989–90 LEDU, the Local Enterprise Development Unit—Northern Ireland's small business development agency—promoted 1,100 jobs in the "Making Belfast Work" areas, a trebling of its performance prior to the initiative; almost 3,000 people were placed in jobs or training by eight local job clubs and new job markets in the Falls and Shankill areas; the Whiterock further education centre had around 2,000 people enrolled on 80 different courses; almost 1,000 people undertook open learning training; and there were significant improvements in immunisation uptake rates, particularly in north and west Belfast. Particularly encouraging is the fact that during 1989–90 unemployment fell in virtually every ward in the initiative area, and the recently announced Springvale project is an exciting opportunity for a major economic regeneration initiative in the heart of north and west Belfast.
A total of £92.5 million has been provided for the initiative for the period 1988–89 to 1992–93, of which £10 million was spent in 1988–89, £15 million in 1989–90 and for which £22.5 million is available in each of the years 1990–91, 1991–92 and 1992–93. This is in addition to the extensive resources already allocated to Departments' mainstream programmes in the "Making Belfast Work" areas.
Maintaining and accelerating the progress achieved to date requires a comprehensive and sustained effort involving the Government, the private sector and the local community.