Follow-up Questions
RECOMMENDATIONS I
AND N: SUPPLIERS
The Committee would be assisted by an updated
note on expenditure to date from £12 million fund for suppliers,
including its extension to Rover 75 suppliers as noted at OR,
27 July, col 720w; and the £10 million fund for the Employment
Services: the extent to which the £25 million RSA for the
Marconi Ansty investment, referred to at the response to Rec (n),
is to be taken out of the £129 million: and the results of
consideration of the Task Force Report in relation to that sum
Of the £12 million set aside for the Emergency
Supply Chain Scheme, £4.9 million has been spent to date,
with a total anticipated outturn of £8 million on the two
Phases of this scheme.
Phase 1 of the Supply Chain scheme, which closed
at the end of May, provided assistance to 147 suppliers. To date,
£4.9 million has been spent on this Phase, with an estimated
final outturn of £5.5 million.
Phase 2 of the Supply Chain Support Scheme commenced
in July, to provide assistance for R75 and R25/45 suppliers throughout
England, disadvantaged by the need to halt production at Longbridge
to transfer the R75 model from Cowley, and reconfigure the R25/45
line. This approach was based on advice from the Rover Task Force,
responding to concerns voiced by a wide variety of people, from
the industry and business support organisations.
The deadline for applications under this Phase
expired on 31 October. Fifty-eight applications from throughout
England have been approved, totalling £2.5 million, which
will be paid by the end of this financial year.
Expenditure on the £10 million fund for
the Employment Services is a matter for DfEE, who will be replying
to the Committee separately.
The RSA offer of £25 million for the new
Marconi investment at Ansty will all be drawn from the £129
million which, as was stated at the time, would be made available
for good quality projects in the West Midlands which provide long
term economic regeneration and job creation.
The Task Force Final Report set out a strategy
which focused on five areas, viz Diversifiction of the regional
economy, Modernisation of the Automotive Sector, Regeneration
and Creation of new opportunities, Support for the Workforce,
and Support for Families and Communities. The Report's Action
Plan set out a range of projects drawn from these areas, and Task
Force sub groups are currently finalising the details of these
schemes for the Secretary of State's approval. Demands from a
range of projects continue to be made on the £129 million.
RECOMMENDATION W: INWARD
INVESTOR DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMME
A note would be helpful on the outcome of the
examination of the BMW/Rover case in the context of information
on inward investors and their plans
The Department, together with British Trade
International, operates a single, integrated strategy for maximising
its information about inward investors and their plans and aspirations.
This has centred on the Inward Investor Development Programme
(IIDP), which is co-ordinated by Invest UK—British Trade
International's inward investment arm—and draws together
the knowledge resources of Sector Directorates in the Department's
Business Competitiveness Group (BCG); other Government Departments:
Government Offices in the regions; Regional Development Agencies
and local sub-regional agencies. Overseas posts also play a key
role in the IIDP, of which the priority objectives include:
— sustaining long-term relationships
with inward investors in order fully to understand what is driving
their business;
— retaining existing investment;
— attracting follow-on investment (supply
chain opportunities);
— attracting new projects and expansions.
However the strategy has never been limited
to the mechanisms of the IIDP, crucial though these have been.
Sector Directorates are in constant contact with key players in
the industries which they sponsor, and in addition to making inputs
to the IIDP have a lead responsibility to ensure that Ministers
receive timely advice on the basis of all the information available.
This means that Sector Directorates are also in constant contact
with the other partners named above, with a view to identifying
as early as possible any incipient problems arising for particular
investors.
The Sector Directorates' role naturally extends
to all key companies, whether or not they are inward investors.
In the case of the latter the Directorates seek to maintain relationships
with global headquarters as well as UK management.
This overall strategy, though effective, is
kept under regular review. The BMW/Rover experience has contributed
to our efforts to achieve continuous improvement. Renewed efforts
have been made, and continue, to ensure that the IIDP includes
all significant investors, and that its workings are understood
and adhered to by all partners. In addition, where necessary,
additional mechanisms have been established for collating and
sharing amongst the relevant parties information about actual
or imminent difficulties for particular sectors, companies or
plants.
Of course, far from all factors affecting inward
investors can be predicted by Government, and we are to some extent
dependent on how far firms are prepared to share their views of
future prospects. However through the measures set out above the
Department and the Government have enhanced their ability to detect
and deal effectively not only with the problems of individual
inward investors, but with significant patterns across sectors
and industry as a whole.
UK Space Policy, Tenth Report, 1999-2000, HC 335:
Government Response, Twelfth Special Report, HC 908
1. In November 1999 the Committee decided
to undertake an inquiry into a number of aspects of UK space policy,
taking the second UK Space Strategy 1999-20: New Frontiers as
a starting point. The Report was published in July 2000; the Government's
response was received in October 2000.
2. The Government response accepted a number
of the recommendations, including a review of the budgetary and
organisational arrangements for the British National Space Centre
(BNSC), the holding of a debate on space policy in Parliament,
and the publication of an annual report. It accepted some of the
conclusions, including the Committee's reference to the relatively
disappointing level of commercial take-up of earth observation
data. It continued the dialogue begun in evidence on the case
for support for UK participation in launcher technology and on
the Galileo project.
3. The Committee plans to seek a debate
on space in the early part of 2001.
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