§ Mr. Hardyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the size and purpose of the Centre for Innovation and Productivity at the Sheffield City Polytechnic; how many such departments or centres exist in the United Kingdom; and at what public cost.
§ Mr. OakesThe Sheffield Centre for Innovation and Productivity was established in 1971 in Sheffield City Polytechnic to provide a service of information, advice and direct assistance on both management and technical matters for small firms in South Yorkshire and adjacent areas. It has a complement of 10 full-time staff.
About 60 institutions of further and higher education in the United Kingdom are engaged in broadly similar work although only a few of these have centres comparable in size and scope with that at Sheffield. The centres form integral parts of the academic institutions concerned and are financed from various sources including those who use them. Information about the net cost to public funds is not available.