To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2007, Official Report, column 903W, on employment: North West region, if he will break down by employer the number of jobs safeguarded or created under the urban, rural and economic inclusion heading. (145072)

As stated in my response of 12 June, the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) does not collect information in the form requested and as such does not hold data by employer.

However, under the Regional Development Agency (RDA) Tasking Framework, introduced in April 2005, RDAs are required to disaggregate outputs by urban and rural area.

For 2005-06, the NRDA reported that 15,738 jobs were created or safeguarded, of which; 74 per cent. (11,588) were in urban areas and 26 per cent. (4,150) were in rural areas.

Further details of RDAs’ end year outputs for 2005-06 can be found at:

http:/www.dti.gov.uk/regional/regional-dev-agencies/rda-performance/nage32498.html