§ Mr. Neil Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what support he has given to the improvement of United Kingdom design performance.
§ Mr. ButcherOver the last two years the Government have undertaken a number of initiatives with the objective of improving the United Kingdom's design performance.
The "Design for Profit" campaign played an important part in these activities. The campaign consisted of a series 35W of 12 regional seminars aimed at improving industrial awareness of the fundamental importance of design in the competitiveness of a product. I also launched the design advisory service funded consultancy scheme. The scheme, to which I have allocated £10 million over three years, offers companies with 60–1,000 employees 15 days' free consultancy on a design project followed by an optional 15 days' at half cost. The scheme has already dealt with 1,200 applications, 400 of which have been completed. A number of other initiatives are under way mainly in the field of design education.
In addition, the Design Council, as the Government's principal agent in design matters, is given an annual grant to enable it to pursue a wide range of activities aimed at improving United Kingdom industry's use of design. I am determined to see that British design talent is put to greater use across the whole of the United Kingdom's industrial and commercial activity in order to satisfy large sectors of domestic and international demand which are not at present met by a British capability.