HC Deb 22 July 1991 vol 195 cc407-8W
Mr. David Shaw

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the achievements of(a) his policies and (b) his Department in helping small businesses over the last 12 months as against 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. Dorrell

The Government continue to place a high priority on helping small businesses, through improvements to the business climate, through deregulation and other measures and through specific programmes of support and assistance. It continues to be the policy of the Department and the national health service to provide equal opportunity to all potential suppliers of whatever size, to trade on a value-for-money basis. This policy underpins all national health service and departmental contracts with suppliers. To help small businesses, a guide on how to do business with the national health service was revised and re-published in January 1991—"Business Links: A Suppliers Guide"—a copy of which is available in the Library. It advertises our link line telephone service that is available to all suppliers wishing further help in selling to the national health service. In addition, the national health service procurement directorate and national health service supplies departments continue to respond to large numbers of requests from businesses that wish to enter the national health service market. The national health service deals with several thousand suppliers through over 3,000 delivery points. It is not practicable to monitor centrally the precise extent to which the national health service draws on small businesses, but it is estimated that they continue to represent some 80 per cent. of suppliers. The Department offers similar encouragement to small businesses, but is unable at present to give an indication of the levels of business with them. It is, however, proposed to collect such information from the 1992–93 year onwards using new computer systems.