§ Mr. PawseyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the principal achievements of his Department since June 1987.
§ Mr. LilleyThe Department of Trade and Industry continues to pursue the objective of encouraging enterprise, as set out in the 1988 White Paper "DTI—The Department for Enterprise". Towards this end, a number of notable achievements have been recorded across the whole range of the Department's activities: the enterprise initiative, bringing together a range of DTI services, was successfully launched in January 1988 and continues to stimulate business development and innovation; further privatisations have taken place, notably through the sale of Rolls-Royce plc, Rover Group, British Steel and Girobank; a major campaign has been undertaken to inform businesses about progress on the single market; major legislation, in particular the Companies Act (1989) and the Consumer Protection Act (1987), has been implemented to maintain a satisfactory framework for the operation of businesses and the protection of the consumer while, at the same time, further progress has been made towards removing unnecessary burdens placed on business by regulations and bureaucracy. Innovative activity by smaller firms is being stimulated by a comprehensive package of assistance including the small firms merit award for research and technology (SMART) and three new schemes, support for products under research (SPUR), the manufacturing, planning and implementation studies scheme (MPI), and the small and medium-sized enterprises technical advice service (SMETAS). DTI has also been at the forefront of implementing the Government's "next steps" initiative. Since 1988, nine agencies have been established within DTI involving roughly half the total manpower of the Department.