§ Mr. Gouldasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what further plans he has for changing the role and resources of the British Overseas Trade Board; what representations he has received on the subject; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Channon[pursuant to his reply, 15 February 1985, c. 304]: My right hon. Friend keeps under continual review all parts of his Department, including the BOTB. He has no present plans to change the role of the British Overseas Trade Board. The financial resources expected to be made available for the export promotion programme were included in the White Paper on public expenditure published in January 1985. The BOTB itself gave further details and made proposals for allocating its budget to individual schemes in a consultation document of 3 December 1984, which is available in the Library of the House. It has received a large response to the proposals and will take full account of the views expressed in deciding how best to use the funds available.