§ Mr. David ShawTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the achievements of his Department and his policies in helping small businesses over the last 12 months compared with the previous 12 months; and if he will publish the performance indicators by which his Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring.
§ Mr. FreemanA booklet has been produced and a series of seminars held on how to do business with the NHS. Other initiatives include the issuing of a mission statement on electronic data interchange which encourages small firm involvement and progress has been made on harmonisation of European standards of equipment, which will assist small businesses in their future trading in Europe. Equal opportunity to trade on a value for money basis underpins all contracts with non-NHS organisations, the details of these are not collected centrally.