§ 13. Mr. BellinghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many local enterprise agencies are currently operating; and if he will make a statement on their progress to date.
§ Mr. ForthWe know of 419 local enterprise agencies operating in the United Kingdom. Of these, 406 are approved by my Department under the statutory provisions which allow for tax relief on donations to them.
Many local enterprise agencies have now developed close working relationships with training and enterprise councils, bringing positive benefits to themselves, the TECs and to local small businesses.
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§ 24. Mr. Harry GreenwayTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many enterprise agencies have been established since 1979; how many were established in the period 1974 to 1979; how many jobs are estimated to have been generated in each case; at what cost to public funds; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ForthThe first enterprise agencies were established in 1978. At present we know of 324 operating in England.
Information on the number of jobs estimated to have been created by these agencies is not collected centrally by my Department.
Since April 1986, Government funding of local enterprise agencies in England has been primarily through my Department's local enterprise agency grant and project schemes. To date, more than £10 million has been paid to more than 200 agencies through these schemes.