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Skills Training

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the members of the group developing a best practice model for large businesses to work with suppliers and customers to improve the skills of their workforce. [123564]

Mr. Alan Johnson: The group working on this Competitiveness White Paper commitment were: Mike Kinski, then at Stagecoach; Howard Bentley from Sainsburys; Jerry Cope from Post Office Counters; Stephen Dunn from Scottish Power; Barrie Oxtoby, then at Rover; and Les Shearn from British Aerospace.

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Learning through Business Networks--the final output from this work--was published in September 1999.

"Fit for the Future" Campaign

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many partner organisations and champions have been recruited to the "Fit For The Future" campaign. [123552]

Mr. Alan Johnson: Currently there are 52 organisations involved as partners within the campaign and 103 individuals have been identified as best practice champions.

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National Campaign for Enterprise

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the progress of the National Campaign for Enterprise. [123546]

Mr. Alan Johnson: The DTI is supporting the business-led Enterprise Insight, the formal name for the National Campaign for Enterprise, which aims to create a more entrepreneurial culture throughout the UK. So far we have committed funding towards the costs of setting up the Campaign office and organising an 'ambassador' programme.

Enterprise Insight was launched by the Prime Minister on 11 May. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry attended, taking part in discussion groups with entrepreneurs, business leaders and young people.

Two young people's forums have already been held in Hull and Wales and further regional activities are currently being co-ordinated by the Enterprise Insight team.

200 entrepreneurs and business people have signed up to the Campaign so far. These 'ambassadors' will participate in a range of activities to raise awareness and understanding of the role and value of enterprise in the community.

"Creating a Great Place to Work"

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the booklet, "Creating a Great Place to Work", has been distributed to business. [123563]

Mr. Alan Johnson: The leaflet has been distributed to a large number of businesses, business support organisations and business representative organisations.

Management Training and Development

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the Departments which are involved and the nature of their involvement in developing a national strategy for the delivery of management training and development. [123553]

Mr. Alan Johnson: My right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and the Secretary of State for Education and Employment have jointly sponsored the formation of the Council for Excellence in Management and Leadership to undertake the development of a national strategy for Management and Leadership Development. The Council was officially launched on 4 April 2000.

The aim of the Council is:

"To ensure that the UK is able to develop the managers and leaders of the future to match the best in the world. To sustain the UK's competitive performance, this must be achieved in both the public and private sectors".

The Council proposes to pursue this aim by:

(a) identifying key issues for management and leadership in England in consultation with the Management Councils established in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to make proposals to address them;
(b) identifying key stakeholders and challenging them to take action on the basis of the investigations undertaken by the Council and its members;

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(c) articulating a vision for management development, in particular by developing a management development strategy for the UK, which incorporates leadership issues and specifically addresses the needs of SMEs;
(d) reviewing the quality, relevance and support for management and leadership education and training;
(e)monitoring progress on issues identified by the Council as in need of action; and
(f) reporting annually to Government and to stakeholders on the progress of those responsible for taking action.

People Skills Scoreboard

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made in extending the People Skills Scoreboard to a wider range of sectors. [123554]

Mr. Alan Johnson: In addition to the People Skills Scoreboard for the engineering sector (published by the Engineering and Marine Training Authority), Scoreboards are being developed, in partnership with National Training Organisations, in a range of manufacturing and service sectors, such as Clothing, Textiles and Footwear, Information Technology, and Computer Services, Multimedia and Steel.

The objective is to publish and disseminate the Scoreboards to raise business awareness about the importance and value of training.

Late Payment of Commercial Debts

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will estimate how many businesses have benefited from the provisions of the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. [123562]

Mr. Alan Johnson: Small firms responding to a survey in late 1999 by the Credit Management Research Centre at Leeds University Business School were asked if they had used the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 since its introduction.

5 per cent. of small firms who responded stated that they had used the legislation, up from 3 per cent. in the previous six months. 11 per cent. stated that they were planning to use it.

We are also monitoring the effect on the Act on payment times in the UK. Recent research published in the Grant Thornton European Business Survey confirms that the average payment period for sales invoices in the UK now stands at 45 days, against an EU average of 54 days, identifying a downward trend in UK payment times in recent years.

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Internet)

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many small and medium-sized enterprises have gained the ability to buy and sell over the Internet with the help of Local Support Centres associated with Business Links in each year since 1997 (a) in each region and (b) as a percentage of all businesses. [123538]

Mr. Alan Johnson: Usage figures for Information Society Initiative (ISI) Centres associated with Business Links are published quarterly as part of Business Link

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Management Information, copies of which are placed in the Library of the House. Figures are not available prior to 1998. Since 1 January 1998 ISI Centres associated with Business Links in England have provided support to thirty seven thousand (37,016) businesses.

The International Benchmarking Study (DTI/Pub 4108/3k/4/99/NP URN 99/797) provides data on uptake of information and communication technologies among small and medium sized companies. However, such uptake cannot be attributed to any single provider of advice.

Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the impact of the Enterprise Fund on (a) the availability of venture capital for very early stage high technology firms and (b) the delivery of the small firms loan guarantee scheme. [123548]

Mr. Alan Johnson: One of the key elements of the Enterprise Fund is the UK High Technology Fund which is being established to address an acknowledged weakness of the venture capital market in this area. On 3 April David Irwin announced that the fund manager, Wesport Private Equity, had been successful in raising £57 million from the private sector, alongside £20 million of Government money, for the UK High Technology Fund. The Fund has been set a final closing target of £125 million, of which £105 million will be from the private sector. Wesport Private Equity continues to raise money from the private sector towards this closing target.

The Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme has been running since 1981 and is periodically evaluated by independent consultants. A report of the most recent study, which looked at all aspects of the scheme including its delivery, was published in March 1999. The recommendations of this report are currently being considered.

Enterprise Fund

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the impact of the Enterprise Fund on (a) (i) local and (ii) regional provision of equity on smaller amounts to growing businesses and (b) finance for a wider range of new products and services. [123550]

Mr. Alan Johnson: One of the key elements of the Enterprise Fund is the support available from Regional Venture Capital Funds, which will specialise in the provision of small scale equity to businesses with growth potential. Bidding guidance for potential sponsors of new regional funds was issued on 22 December 1999 and 21 notifications of intention to bid have subsequently been received. Should all of these come forward, all of the English regions will have access to at least one new, viable fund.

The Enterprise Fund was established to address gaps in the markets providing finance to SMEs. New programmes will be developed under the Fund in response to market needs.

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