The South-East England Development Agency (Seeda) is falling dangerously behind its headline targets to create new jobs and reclaim land, it has been claimed.

A six-month progress report, published by the Department of Trade and Industry, shows Seeda is struggling to meet four of its five goals.

The Government-fund-ed agency created or safeguarded only 1,309 jobs in the first half of the year, compared with a target of 3,000.

Seeda is also behind target on reclaiming 50 hectares of brownfield land for industrial use. In the six months to the end of September, it had reclaimed only 12.7 hect-ares.

Learning opportunities, such as college places, provided or influenced by Seeda totalled 3,124 compared to a target of 12,000.

Friday February 06, 2004