Dr. John CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about the funding of Business Links and the progress they have made. [15184]
§ Mr. HeseltineBusiness Links have been designed to increase the effectiveness and improve the quality of local business support services by bringing together their delivery and avoiding overlap and duplication.
406WEach Business Link is a private sector company which receives part of its funding from my Department, part from local partner organisations, and part from charging for its services. My Department is providing £38.5 million in 1995–96 towards the start-up costs of Business Links and is committed to providing on-going funding after the three-year start-up phase to contribute towards the cost the services offered by Business Links. In 1995–96 our contribution towards services will amount to around £50 million.
The Business Link programme continues to make good progress with 75 Business Links now open and over 50 more due to open by the end of April. The programme is well on course to reach its target for a national network of 200 Business Links by the end of 1995.