HC Deb 03 March 1998 vol 307 c532W
Mr. Pearson

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will list the(a) amount and (b) proportion of overall budget spent by each business link on administration in (i) 1994–95, (ii) 1995–96 and (iii) 1996–97. [32085]

Mrs. Roche

The information requested is not available. Business Links take a number of different forms. For example, some operate as separate entities jointly owned by their local partners while others operate as subsidiaries of their local partners. We thus do not manage Business Links directly but make a contribution to the cost of the services they provide, including a provision for reasonable over-head costs. But we do not collect detailed information on the costs of administering the services they provide.