§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has any proposals for the improvement of information and advice services to United Kingdom exporters; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Sainsbury[holding answer 22 May 1991]: The Department of Trade and Industry and the Foreign and 631W Commonwealth Office overseas trade services provide a wide range of information and advice to United Kingdom exporters. We have made substantial improvements in our services over the past two years and our regular quality monitoring system reports high levels of satisfaction among our business customers.
We keep our services constantly under review. The joint directorate, formed on 2 April this year by merging the export service management units of the DTI and the FCO, has as its priority task to ensure that our export services operate well throughout the world. The fact that some 90 per cent. of our customers say that they will use our services again demonstrates their value and quality.