In todays (February 6) sitting of the House of Keys, Dr Michelle Haywood MHK on behalf of Hon. Tim Johnston MHK, Minister for Enterprise said that the Department of Enterprise (DfE) recognises ‘that for many businesses, particularly in our domestic economy, these are challenging times’.
She added that: “The Department will continue to monitor the health of various sectors and always welcomes ideas and suggestions for how such monitoring can be further improved”.
This was in response to the Member for Douglas North (Mr Ashford) asking the Minister for Enterprise “What indicators his Department uses to monitor the health of different sectors of the economy; and when the appropriateness of these indicators was last reviewed.”
DfE
According to the Minister, the Department uses a range of indicators and data, together with intelligence gained through direct industry liaison, to monitor the health of different economic sectors and to understand the challenges faced by individual businesses.
On the Ministers behalf, Haywood said: “Through the Executive Agencies, the Department has direct links into all economic sectors and engages directly with businesses and representative groups through extensive outreach to understand concerns, challenges and opportunities.
“The Agencies monitor a range of indicators including vacancies, jobseekers, jobs created or at risk and lead pipeline together with businesses opening and closing in their respective sectors. The Agency Boards regularly review the range of data available to them, ensuring that such continues to effectively monitor the performance of their respective sectors.”
Which it say provides a high-level view of economic activity and performance, providing clear data on broad trends across the economy.
On behalf of Minister Johnston, Haywood added: “I am aware that Treasury regularly review the range and scope of information included in the Dashboard and are open to suggestions for other measures that may be able to be included going forward.
“Indeed, further to a previous question raised by the Honourable Member, work is ongoing to incorporate data on business insolvencies within the Dashboard.
“Honourable Members, I recognise that for many businesses, particularly in our domestic economy, these are challenging times. The Department will continue to monitor the health of various sectors and always welcomes ideas and suggestions for how such monitoring can be further improved.”
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