HC Deb 17 November 1982 vol 32 cc209-10W
Mr. Wrigglesworth

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will list all the bodies sponsored by his Department which give advice and or assistance to industry and commerce and the date they were established.

Mr. Kenneth Baker

The following bodies or services receive assistance from the Department on account of their advisory or supportive roles to industry:

Date of establishment of body or service
North-West Industrial Development Association 1931
North of England Development Council 1961
Yorkshire and Humberside Development Association 1972
Devon and Cornwall Development Bureau 1977
English Industrial Estates Corporation 1960
National Research Development Corporation 1949
National Enterprise Board 1975
Cooperative Development Agency 1978
New Enterprise Development Project at Durham University Business School 1971
Design Council 1944
Warwick Statistics service, Warwick university 1978
Biodeterioration centre, Aston university 1979
Online Information Centre, Association of Specialised Libraries and Information Bureaux 1979
National Alloy Identification Centre, Sheffield city library 1980
1982 Committee for Information Technology Ltd. 1981
Federation of Microsystems Centres 1981
British Information Technology Export Organisation 1982
United Kingdom Council for Computer Development 1982
Plastics Advisory Service 1982

In addition, certain advisory services are run on behalf of the Department by outside bodies. The Design Advisory Service—started 1976—is run by the Design Council; the Manufacturing Advisory Service—1977—and the Small Firms Technical Enquiries Service—1982—are run by the Production Engineering Research Association.