§ Mr. David ShawTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the achievements of his Department and his policies in helping small businesses over the last 12 months relative to the previous 12 months; and if he will publish the performance indicators by which his Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring.
§ Mr. AtkinsThe Government continue to place a high priority on helping small businesses in Northern Ireland, through improvements to the business climate, deregulation and specific programmes of support and assistance. Direct comparisons between 1990–91 and 1991–92 are not possible as the Northern Ireland industrial development agencies concentrated on implementing the Government's 915W new economic development strategy for Northern Ireland in 1991–92. This focuses on assisting companies to develop their growth potential and competitiveness. Measures operated in 1991–92 by the Department of Economic Development through the Industrial Development Board and the Local Enterprise Development Unit, to assist small business include:
Activity Performance Sectoral activity Examination of competitive performance begun in 20 sectors (new programme) 6 sectoral task forces established (new programme) Strategic development planning scheme 21 companies assisted (new programme) Growth opportunities 40 companies assisted (new programme) Marketing, quality, research and development, product development support 805 companies supported Exhibitions, trade missions 396 companies participated