§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the forecast cost of the current Government-sponsored national advertising campaign for business links. [28536]
§ Mr. PageThe forecast cost of the 1996–97 business links national publicity campaign is £4 million, of which the budget for the national advertising campaign is £2.5 million.
§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the cost to date of(a) setting up business links and (b) the services provided by business links; and if he will make a statement. [28522]
§ Mr. PageDTI's contribution to date towards establishing the network is £53.6 million over the period 1993–94 to 1995–96. Over the same period DTI has provided £112.9 million for business support services. DTI only contributes part of the costs, with business links receiving other revenue from partner contributions in cash or in kind and from income generation activities including charges for services.
§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what steps are being taken to monitor the use of funds provided to business links by his Department; [28535]
(2) what measures he has taken to prevent the misuse of departmental funds by a business link. [28538]
§ Mr. PageAll funding provided by DTI to business links is channelled through training and enterprise councils and is subject to a set of contactual requirements agreed by the relevant TEC.
In addition to the statutory requirements for business links companies and TECs to prepare financial statements, the following arrangements are in place to prevent the misuse of DTI funds provided to business links:
300WTECs are required by Government to have an effective system for the financial appraisal and monitoring of their providers, including business links.Government office accountants teams visit each TEC at least once a year to check that funds are being claimed in accordance with the contractual requirements. In addition, for business links pump-priming funding:before any grant is paid, a report is required from an independent accountant confirming that the TEC and business links accounting systems are sufficiently sound to enable the accountant to report on subsequent grant claims;the final claim in each operational year must be accompanied by a report from the independent accountant confirming that claims for payment have been made in accordance with the relevant contractual requirements.Business links pump-priming projects and services funding are monitored on a regular basis by Government office staff, who check that the project to establish the business links and the services are being delivered in accordance with the relevant contractual requirements.In order to achieve accreditation Business Links must have documented systems in place to ensure effective management and financial accountability and a strategy for achieving and maintaining long-term financial viability.