§ Mr. Barry JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his policy concerning small firms; and if he will make a statement. [2665]
§ Mr. RichardsThe second competitiveness White Paper called "Forging Ahead", published in May 1995, outlined a programme of measures to assist the growth and competitiveness of the small firms sector.
The Welsh Office works with local authorities, training and enterprise councils, the development agencies and local enterprise agencies in providing a range of services for small businesses in Wales. We have established eight business development consortia—business connect—to streamline the assistance available and to make it easily accessible through a single low-cost, all-Wales telephone number. This service will be operational from 15 January 1996.
854W
New dwellings completed Numbers Local authority 1992 Housing association All tenures1 Local authority 1993 Housing association All tenures1 Local authority 1994 Housing association All tenures1 Aberconwy 0 43 226 0 82 182 20 72 304 Alyn and Deeside 22 104 283 0 50 148 16 23 167 Arfon 20 13 108 0 74 214 0 79 143 Blaenau Gwent 0 104 237 0 0 67 0 25 101 Brecknock 0 43 121 0 21 80 0 71 139 Cardiff 6 496 1.188 0 420 934 0 385 1,258 Carmarthen 0 37 207 0 45 265 0 24 234 Ceredigion 0 0 277 0 0 315 0 12 230 Colwyn 0 93 337 0 12 161 0 36 308 Cynon Valley 0 66 198 0 66 237 0 36 177 Delyn 0 127 389 0 131 298 0 46 235 Dinefwr 0 60 267 6 107 227 0 7 105 Dwyfor 0 39 73 3 49 84 0 17 63 Glyndwr 0 30 168 0 22 148 0 25 78 Islwyn 0 50 110 0 54 94 0 0 51 Llanelli 0 0 117 31 0 197 45 6 232 Lliw Valley 0 97 144 0 22 94 0 72 120