To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what targets are set by his Department for regional development agencies (RDAs) to support the Government’s target on regional competitiveness; what assessment he has made of performance by each RDA against these targets; and if he will make a statement. (138753)

[holding answer 22 May 2007]: The RDA tasking framework, introduced in April 2005, comprises a set of 10 output targets: with the RDAs agreeing specific numbers against them. The targets cover employment creation and support, business creation and support, leverage of public and private sector infrastructure investment, brownfield land reclamation/redevelopment, and skills development. The performance of the RDAs against their targets is laid before Parliament every six months. Nationally, as a network, the RDAs have achieved or exceeded their targets every year since a common target framework was introduced in 2002, except in 2002-03 when the employment target was not met, and in 2005-06 when the level 2 skills sub-target was not met.