§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the(a) purpose and (b) role of the regional supply offices; and what their budget was in the most recent year for which figures are available. [184985]
§ Jacqui SmithRegional Supply Offices (RSOs) were designed to provide a means by which small businesses could gain access to the supply chain business of large firms. The market failure was that large firms were often unaware of smaller, potential suppliers in their regions, and for their part small businesses were unable to talk to chief buyers etc because they lacked the status to do so. The role of the RSO Advisers was to go out and learn of the large suppliers' supply chain requirements, and then offer to locate (small business) suppliers for them. In parallel, the RSO Advisers would help the small 1047W suppliers to develop their services to meet the customer requirements. Practical examples of these activities included seminars and workshop to highlight the benefits companies could gain from understanding supply chain development programmes, briefing on special topics such as manufacturing issues, subsidised stand space for companies at major trade shows and exhibitions as well as the organisation of business to business events. In April 2001, responsibility for the RSOs was transferred to the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) in the English regions.
The RDAs integrated their RSOs but services of a similar nature continue to be provided in all regions as part of the RDAs' and Partners' range of business support. However, as supply chain support has been mainstreamed in this way, information about costs cannot be easily disaggregated and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.