§ Mr. Ronnie CampbellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many staff are employed in(a) the Northumberland Business Link and (b) Business Links in the United Kingdom as a whole. [24033]
§ Mrs. RocheThe information is given in the list:
- (a) Twenty two staff are employed by Business Link Northumberland.
- (b) Business Links are independent private sector companies. How many staff each Business Link employs is decided by their local management and these numbers are not collected centrally.
§ Mr. Ronnie CampbellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many requests for information were received by Northumberland business link's marketing information centre in each of the last three years. [24032]
652W(2) if she will make a statement on the inward investment made into the Greater London area in each of the last three years. [24527]
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyInward investment made into Greater London and the breakdown of jobs as a result over the last three years is as follows:
§ Mrs. RocheBusiness Link Northumberland does not have a Marketing Information Centre as such but does operate an Information Service. The number of inquiries recorded by this Service in each of the last three years was as follows:
- 1994–95: 1,050
- 1995–96: 1,595
- 1996–97: 782.
The apparent drop in the figures in 1996–97 is considered to have resulted from a change to the recording arrangements from recording all inquiries whatever their nature to recording only requests for business information.