To ask the President of the Board of Trade what costs have been saved by closures and amalgamations of business links since 1 May; and what are the total projected costs of these closures and amalgamations. [13519]

[holding answer 30 October 1997]: There has been no programme of closures or amalgamations of Business Links since 1 May, although individual Business Links may have done so on an independent basis.Business Links are tasked with preparing business plans from which I would expect efficiency savings to be made.