Examinatoin of Witnesses (Questions 280-281)
MS SALLY
LOW AND
MS CHARLOTTE
MOORE-BICK
27 MARCH 2006
Q280 Martin Horwood: You should receive
the funding directly then for that?
Ms Low: There have been various
plans floated about this over the years, and, yes, the Chambers
of Commerce is a national network, private sector, independent
which understands the needs of business, because what we are seeing
is duplication and we are seeing reported, in some cases, services
being provided where there is not actually a need being voiced.
You can cut out some of that by producing a leaner, more efficient
structure.
Ms Moore-Bick: I think it is about
the RDAs trying to deliver that, to use the body for mechanisms
which are there already, like the Chambers of Commerce, to deliver
some of their strategic priorities. It is not about them setting
up systems which duplicate what is already there in a region.
Q281 Sir Paul Beresford: One of the
points made by the last witnesses was that there was a plethora
of funding streams, if you like, new initiatives, chops and changes;
to use a colonial phrase, "It's a dog's breakfast."
Is that what you are saying really, that they may have not just
too much to do but there is too much change, too many varieties
within the changes?
Ms Low: The Chambers of Commerce
in various forms have been in place since the 1750s, and since
the eighties we have seen numerous different methods, one-stop
shops, TECs (Training and Enterprise Councils, agencies, all sorts
of organisations and methods of providing support for business,
in one way or another, and now this latest incarnation, the new
model for Business Link, the IDB model. Yes, it is a mixture and
there are numerous organisations, for example, in a very small
area, serving a small population. There can be literally thousands
of signposting operations and information points producing a very
confusing picture. For example, in the North East, there are hundreds
and hundreds of various small pots of funding which can be allocated
for enterprise of some sort. There is a serious need now to look
at this again and say we have got an ideal opportunity here. It
would be a great shame to look back, in five or 10 years' time,
and think that really we did not rise to the challenge and produce
an effective model.
Mr Betts: Thank you very much indeed
for your evidence.
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