§ Mr. Gryllsasked the Secretary of State for Industry, further to his letter dated 22 October to the hon. Member for Surrey, North-West H/SH/PSO/34225/82, what progress has been made, following the report by the Confederation of British Industry in September 1981 on the problems experienced by small firms in tendering for Government and other public sector contracts, towards changing the procedures to benefit small firms.
§ Mr. MacGregorFollowing publication of the CBI report a review was set in hand of possible improvements in small firms' access to Government contracts. A number of measures designed to counter some of the problems experienced by small firms have been identified and are being discussed with the major purchasing Departments. I hope that an announcement will be made fairly soon.