§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if she will list the publications issued by South East Euro Awareness Forum, indicating(a) the number of copies produced and (b) the cost to public funds for each item; [27796]
(2) what the total cost to public funds was of the South East Euro Awareness Forum in each year since its establishment; [27792]
(3) what the total cost to public funds is of creating and maintaining the South East Euro Awareness Forum website; [27798]
(4) how many events the South East Euro Awareness Forum has organised (a) in total and (b) in Buckinghamshire; how many participants there were (i) in total and (ii) from companies based in Buckinghamshire at each event; and what the cost to public funds was of each event; [27794]
(5) how many calls the Euro Help Line set up by the South East Euro Awareness Forum has received (a) in total and (b) from individuals and companies based in Buckinghamshire since its establishment; and what the total cost to public funds of creating and maintaining the service is; [27797]
(6) how many staff are (a) employed by and (b) on secondment to the South East Euro Awareness Forum, indicating the company seconding staff in each case; [27793]
(7) how many businesses are listed on the South East Euro Awareness Forum database as intending to trade in euros; and what the cost to public funds of creating and maintaining the database is. [27795]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe South East Euro Awareness Forum (SEEAF) is one of 12 Regional Euro Fora across the UK. The Regional Euro Fora are led by senior local business people and include representatives from business, national and local government bodies, as well as key business support bodies such as Chambers of Commerce, Trade Partners UK and Business Links.
The Fora were formed to increase the level of preparations by SME's for the introduction of the euro in the euro area and to advise about the possible impact on UK business.
Since its formation in 1998, £222,000 has been allocated to SEEAF.
The Forum has:
produced seven editions of their newsletter, with distribution of each issue increasing from 1000 to 75,000, at a cost of £17.600;produced 10,000 flyers for insertion into other publications at a cost of £2,215;created and maintained a website. Since September 2001 it has received about 46,000 visits;608Worganised and attended 40 events for local businesses between September 2001 and 31 March 2002—nearly 600 people have attended events to date; and managed a helpline that has received 320 calls between June 2001 and the end of December;engaged the services of a part-time self-employed co-ordinator.Information is not available on the number of businesses from Buckinghamshire attending events or contacting the helpline.
SEEAF does not have a database listing those businesses that intend to trade in euro.