Dr. John CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what fees were paid in total to the Consultancy Brokerage Service's contractor, Salford University Business Services; [37756]
(2) what has been government expenditure to date on the Consultancy Brokerage Service including its consultants and set up costs. [37773]
§ Mr. LangSome £2.94 million. This sum includes total payments of £650,000 to all contractors, including Salford University Business Services Ltd. The sums paid to individual contractors are commercially confidential. Some £1.37 million of the total expenditure was on information technology hardware, for which alternative uses are being found.
My hon. Friend the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Energy announced on 14 September 1995 that the DTI would be working with business links to develop regional consultancy databases and that the Consultancy Brokerage Service would not now proceed. It is not expected that this alternative approach will entail any significant expenditure.