§ Mr. RoweTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many applicants have been accepted under the new enterprise allowance scheme; and if he will give the figures by regional or local authority area.
Mr. JacksonNew flexibilities in the operation of the enterprise allowance scheme were introduced on 1 April 1991 for existing TECs. TECs going live after that date were able to use the flexibilities when they became operational.
In the current financial year, to 15 September, 22,294 people in England and Wales have started a new business with the help of an enterprise allowance. A regional breakdown of these entrants is shown in the table. It is not possible to give a breakdown of entrants by local authority area.
Region Participants Northern 1,375 North West 3,397 Yorkshire and Humberside 2,770 West Midlands 2,238 East Midlands and Anglia 2,541 South East 2,387 South West 2,560 London 3,163 Wales 1,863