§ 41. Mr. Tony Lloydasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he has taken towards establishing research and development programmes in banking, insurance, and other service industries, as recommended by the chairman of the Advisory Council for Applied Research and Development and the Advisory Board for the Research Councils in Cmnd. 8957.
§ Mr. BrookeThe first joint report by the chairmen of ACARD and ABRC, published in July 1983, notes that there does not appear to be the equivalent in service industries — banking, insurance, news and information services, and so on—of the advanced thinking towards "products" 10 years hence and the establishment of appropriate R and D programmes which may be found in some parts of manufacturing. The report goes on to say that there are difficulties in defining the areas for investigation. Despite the appropriateness of this area of research for funding by the service industries themselves, some relevant work is in progress, including some studies financed by the Social Science Research Council. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry would also welcome proposals from companies in the service sector under his Department's support for innovation schemes.