§ Mrs. LawrenceTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made with Government plans to establish Partnerships UK; and if he will make a statement. [109298]
§ Mr. Andrew SmithPartnerships UK will be a new public-private partnership which will make available to the public sector the key commercial skills to forge more and better partnerships with the private sector. The business plan for Partnerships UK is under development. The next step is to start putting arrangements in place to launch Partnerships UK. Parliamentary approval to this new service will be sought in an Estimate for HM Treasury, Class XVI, Vote 1. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £3.6 million in 1999–2000 will be met by repayable advances from the Contingencies Fund.