§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will make a statement to the House before granting any further public funds to the Clothing Industry Productivity Resources Agency.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe grant-in-aid for CIPRA is published in the Supply Estimates. It is not normal practice in cases of this kind to make a separate statement to the House before making funds available.
§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for Industry (1) if he will produce guidelines for the Clothing Industry Productivity Resources Agency to help existing consultants develop their capabilities and for passing on to other consultants potential new assignments, (2) if it is his policy that the Clothing Industry Productivity Resources Agency should play a secondary role to that of outside consultants to the clothing industry.
§ Mr. MacGregorIt is for CIPRA itself—with its limited staff—to decide how best to draw on the resources of other consultants in carrying out its own remit.
§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for Industry why the Clothing Industry Productivity Resources Agency has not kept records of the inquiries it has received from the trade, the number it has passed on to other organisations and the general benefits thereby achieved.
§ Mr. MacGregorIt would be unreasonable to expect CIPRA, with its limited resources, to record every inquiry it receives—many of which are of a minor nature—and to follow up each one to try to establish just what resulted from the advice given.
§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he is satisfied that the Clothing Economic Development Committee is able to monitor adequately the effectiveness of the Clothing Industry Productivity Resources Agency in the absence of precise records on the number of cases where the agency has referred inquiries to outside organisations.
§ Mr. MacGregorThis is for the clothing EDC to decide. The effectiveness of CIPRA depends on a number of factors, not just the extent to which records are kept of inquiries received and of the advice given.
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§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will make it his policy that any further public funds released to the Clothing Industry Productivity Resources Agency be used to promote to the clothing industry the relevant services of existing consultants and not to subsidise the build-up of the agency as a consultancy in competition with outside organisations.
§ Mr. MacGregorAs explained to my hon. Friend in answering a previous question on 19 March, the Government's grant-in-aid to CIPRA is subject to a review which will be undertaken shortly. I do not wish to prejudge the outcome.