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TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Business Links

Mrs. Roche: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many personal business advisers are currently employed by business links. [39855]

Mr. Page: It is estimated that there are currently around 530 personal business advisers working for business links.

Mrs. Roche: To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will list the target group of growth businesses used by each business link, by number of employees; [39854]

(2) what proportion of business links use (a) 10 to 200 employees, (b) five to 200 employees and (c) some other definition as their target group. [39852]

Mr. Page: The definition of target groups is a matter for each business link. Information is not held centrally.

Mrs. Roche: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what proportion of (a) personal business advisers, (b) export development councillors and (c) innovation and technology advisers at (i) each business link and (ii) in total have been appointed by business links without reference to his Department's personnel. [39853]

Mr. Page: Business links recruit personal business advisers, export development counsellors and innovation and technology counsellors against a background of criteria and guidance agreed by the national business link partners including my Department.

Each business link is an independent private sector organisation and decisions on whom it employs are a matter for it. However, where requested by the business link, officials of my Department, or the relevant regional government office, have occasionally been involved by participating in the selection process for personal business advisers and innovation and technology counsellors; and have regularly been involved in the selection process for export development counsellors.

Small Firms

Mrs. Roche: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what research his Department has recently undertaken into barriers to growth for small firms; and what his Department has identified as the main barriers. [39859]

Mr. Page: The Department has undertaken and published a number of studies which examine particular barriers to growth for small firms:

'Management Training for Growth SMEs' (1995) looked at linkages between small and medium enterprises investment in management training and business growth. It also identified factors that are likely to limit the ability of the firm to maximise the benefits of external management training.

14 Oct 1996 : Column: 667

'Globalisation of SMEs' (1994) discusses the factors affecting the globlisation process and the resource and organisational difficulties encountered by SMEs.
'Small Firms in the Inner City' (1993) was involved in identifying the different opportunities for growth as well as the constraints on the development of firms in different types of location. The Department is due to publish shortly two other reports that relate to barriers to growth for small firms:
'Growth Constraints on SMEs' explores barriers to growth of SMEs in internationally tradeable sectors. It will identify the main barriers and assess how companies identify and manage constraints.
'Franchising' examines the role of business format franchising as a strategy to facilitate small firm growth.

Large Firm Outsourcing

Mrs. Roche: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what evidence his Department has evaluated regarding the proportion of large firm outsourcing which goes to (a) large firms, (b) small firms and (c) self-employed people. [39860]

Mr. Page: The information requested is not available.

Company Sizes

Mrs. Roche: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what percentage of the work force in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) European Union countries were in enterprises with (i) one to nine, (ii) 10 to 49, (iii) 50 to 249 and (iv) over 250 employees in the last year for which figures are available. [39858]

Mr. Nelson: Estimates of the percentage of the workforce by size class for non-government enterprises are given in the table. There are no figures available that include central and local government.

Work-force by size distribution of UK and EUR 15 enterprises(14)

	Percentages
Number of employees	UK	EUR 15
1-9	17.4	23.1
10-49	16.4	18.8
50-249	12.9	14.9
250+	40.3	33.8

Notes:

(14) Excludes agriculture.

UK 1994.

EUR 15 1992.

Source:

DTI and Eurostat.

Aggregates

Sir Peter Hordern: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was (a) the value and (b) the volume of (i) exports and (ii) imports of aggregates from and to the United Kingdom in each of the last five years. [39621]

Mr. Nelson: The information is published by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise in the "Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom", which is available in the Library of the House. Aggregates are classified to heading 273.4 of the standard international trade classification.

14 Oct 1996 : Column: 668

Channel 35

Dr. John Cunningham: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans his Department has for the allocation of the Channel 35 frequency for analogue or digital use. [39742]

Mr. Ian Taylor: The Government announced on 16 September the arrangements for the future of frequency Channel 35. Channel 5 Broadcasting will have access to the frequency for five years to enhance the population coverage of its service. As the market for advanced digital services develops, channel 35 will be redeployed to facilitate the new broadcasting opportunities. The arrangements oblige Channel 5 Broadcasting to inform viewers in areas using Channel 35, at the point of their VCR retuning campaign, that access to the channel is time limited and that Channel 5 will need to consider other options for reception at the end of the five-year period.

Ethnic Minorities

Ms Abbott: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many women from ethnic minorities are employed by his Department and its agencies; at what grade; and what measures he has taken to encourage the (a) recruitment, (b) employment and (c) promotion of women from ethnic minorities within his Department and its agencies. [39896]

Mr. John M. Taylor: On 19 July 1996 the DTI, excluding its executive agencies, employed 454 female staff of ethnic minority origin in the following grade levels:

Grade level	Number
Senior Civil Service	0
SEO-G6 level	8
HEO level	19
EO level	64
AO level	223
AA level	140

Recruitment levels are very low at the moment. However, where we run recruitment campaigns, vacancies are usually advertised in the ethnic minority press. We also, where appropriate, use positive action statements to encourage applications from the ethnic minority community.

Since September 1994, line managers have been responsible for selecting staff for internal transfers and promotions to posts up to and including G7 level.

All staff involved in recruitment and promotion decisions are trained in selection techniques and in avoiding discrimination. Equal opportunities awareness training also forms an integral part of the Department's induction and managerial courses. Ethnic minority women may also apply to undertake positive action training.

I have asked the chief executives of the DTI's executive agencies to respond direct to the hon. Member.

Letter from Jim Norton to Ms Diane Abbott, dated 14 October 1996:

The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply on behalf of the Radiocommunications Agency to your Parliamentary Question.

14 Oct 1996 : Column: 669

The Radiocommunications Agency employs 16 women from ethnic minorities. All are in the Administration and Secretarial Groups which cover typists and secretaries, administration and executive staff.
The Radiocommunications Agency's Equal Opportunities Policy Statement and Programme of Action underpin our commitment as an Equal Opportunities employer. As such, all advertised posts are open to applicants from the ethnic minorities. The managers involved in the selection and promotion procedures are fully trained in equal opportunities to ensure fairness and impartiality. Indeed, at present, all of our staff are receiving training in equal opportunities.
As part of the Agency's Training and Development Strategy, appropriate training is provided to help staff develop and prepare for career opportunities. Such training is available to all staff in the Agency.

Letter from John S. Holden to Ms Dianne Abbott, dated 14 October 1996:

You recently tabled a Parliamentary Question for the President of the Board of Trade on ethnic minority women employed within DTI and its agencies. I am responding as Chief Executive of Companies House.
30 women members of staff have identified themselves as being of ethnic minority origin. Their grades are as follows:

Grade	Number
HEO	1
EO	1
AO	8
AA	9
SGB2	11
Total	30




Companies House is fully committed to the principles of equal opportunity and to recruiting and promoting on merit.

We are training all staff, including managers, on the anti-discrimination legislation and Companies House policy in this area.

The Agency monitors the recruitment, development and promotion of ethnic minority staff, men and women, to enhance awareness and equality of treatment.

Letter from Peter Joyce to Ms Diane Abbott, dated 14 October 1996:

The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your question about the employment of women from ethnic minorities in The Insolvency Service.
At 19 July 1996, The Insolvency Service employed on a permanent basis 86 female staff recorded as of ethnic minority origin in the following grade levels:
Senior Civil Service: 0
SEO-Grade 6 level: 2
HEO level: 6
EO level: 12
AO level: 23
AA level: 43
Staff within The Service responsible for recruitment exercises are trained and certificated in selection procedures and techniques. Equal opportunities awareness, including best practice in the avoidance of unfair discrimination, forms an integral part of staff recruitment and promotion panel training.
The Service is also responsible for internal promotions of staff up to Grade 6 level and each panel includes a member of staff from The Service's Personnel Section.
To encourage the employment and career development of women of all ethnic origins, The Service offers a career break scheme, part-time working, flexible working hours and job-sharing where it is possible to do so.

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Letter from J. C. Octon to Ms Diane Abbott, dated 14 October 1996:

In the absence of the Chief Executive I am replying for the Patent Office to your Parliamentary Question to the President of the Board of Trade about the employment of women from ethnic minorities.
The Patent Office currently employs fewer than five women of ethnic minorities. I therefore regret that I cannot disclose the precise number or their grades for to do so would risk identification of the individuals concerned and thereby contravene the Code of Practice governing the use of data on ethnic origin.
The Patent Office has been reducing in numbers for some years and in consequence has carried out very little recruitment. However, we take our responsibilities in this field seriously. Our recruitment advertisements all state that we are an equal opportunities employer and that we welcome applications from men and women of all backgrounds and ethnic groups, including those with disabilities.
Promotion opportunities have also been rather limited in recent years but our aim is to ensure that the best candidate is selected. Our training procedures for promotion boards reflect the need to keep bias out of the selection and promotion processes and to ensure that equal opportunities legislation is respected.

Letter from Seton Bennett to Ms Diane Abbott, dated 14 October 1996:

The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply on behalf of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory to your question about the employment of women from ethnic minorities.
This Agency employs less than five people in the group specified in your question. I am therefore not able to provide a detailed response as to do so would contravene the Code of Practice on the use of ethnic origin data. The Code prescribes that data should not be disclosed in a form that would allow individuals to be identified.
With regard to the second part of your question, NWML follows the guidance given by the "Positive Action" initiative. In this respect, we advertise vacant posts to ensure that all those eligible to apply have the opportunity to do so, including ethnic minority women. The same policy applies to promotion opportunities.

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