§ Mr. MorganTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will make a statement on one-stop shops for business and technology information dissemination; what proposals he has to grant aid such one-stop shops; and what arrangements he will make to monitor and evaluate their progress;
(2) if he will make a statement on the local dissemination of business and technology information; and when he expects to announce pilot projects to further such local dissemination.
§ Mr. Leigh[holding answer 14 January 1993]: My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade made a statement in the House on 3 December 1992 announcing the publication of a prospectus seeking competitive bids for the establishment of up to 15 pilot one-stop shops in England.
I understand that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales, who has responsibility for Welsh matters, is separately considering the business enterprise and support arrangements in Wales.
One-stop shop bids will be submitted to DTI by 29 January 1993 and I will be announcing the pilot areas in mid-March 1993.
DTI will provide grant aid as a contribution towards meeting the additional costs of establishing pilot shops for a period of up to three financial years.
The progress of the pilots will be closely monitored and will be the subject of a detailed evaluation. If the initial pilots are as successful as I expect, a further round of bids will take place in 1993–94 and a national network of one-stop shops will be established as quickly as possible.