§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish a table showing the number of meetings held, the secretarial and advisory arrangements, the budgeted and actual expenditure and the subjects of any reports and submissions produced by the innovation advisory board in each of the last three years.
§ Mr. Ian TaylorThe innovation advisory board was wound up in September 1993. No formal successor arrangements have been put in place, but the Department's innovation unit, which contains 15 industrial secondees, is taking forward much of the board's work. The secretariat of the IAB was provided by staff of the Department of Trade and Industry; independent external members were appointed by the Secretary of State on the basis of their pre-eminence in relevant subjects rather than as representatives of particular businesses. The board advised the Department on various aspects of innovation policy, providing advice to the Secretary of State or senior officials as appropriate. The board gained a reputation, externally and internally, as a strong and effective champion of innovation and a valuable source of advice to DTI.
In the financial year 1991–92, the board met six times and in 1992–93 four times. It did not meet in 1993–94. The focus of its work during these periods was the interface between industry and financial institutions and between industry and education. The style of working was to prompt action by others. The board did not produce many reports or submissions. Those produced during these periods were:
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Reports 1991–92 First United Kingdom Company R and D Scoreboard "Innovation Plans Handbook" providing guidance to companies on how to present their innovation plans to investors and guidance to investors on how to examine such plans. 1992–93 Guidance on a modular masters degree in the management of technology Second R and D Scoreboard. Submissions 1991–92 Submission to the Cadbury Committee on the Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance. Submission to the Accountancy Standards Board of Financial Reporting Exposure Draft.
Programme Expenditure for these periods was: £ 1991–92 124,068.35 1992–93 5,000.74 1993–94 0 Staff costs were also incurred, but since these were an integral part of other related activities it would be disproportionately costly to identify these separately or to search for budgeted spend in the same periods.