§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the 18 pilot local business partnerships set up by his Department's deregulation unit.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonThe 18 pilot local business partnerships, established by local authorities and the business community with the help of my Department, are located at
Kent county council, Tunbridge Wells borough council, Suffolk county council, Ipswich borough council, Nottinghamshire county council, Gedling district council, Barnsley metropolitan borough council, London borough of Hounslow, South Ribble borough council, West Sussex county council, East Sussex county council, Cardiff city council, Warwickshire county council, Hertfordshire county council, Oxfordshire county council, Hereford and Worcester county council, Berkshire county council and Lewes district council.In addition to these 18 pilot partnerships, a new partnership has been established at Hastings borough council and I understand that launches for new partnerships are already planned this year by Gloucestershire county council, Essex county council and Rother and Wealden district councils.
I am keen to encourage the creation of other partnerships and to this end hosted a series of regional seminars in late-1993 to help promote them. The response to these seminars was encouraging and officials in my Department's deregulation unit are planning a number of initiatives to follow up on the many expressions of interest.