Business Links (Hansard, 25 November 1996)

§ Mrs. Roche
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to ensure that business links' databases are compatible. [5686]

§ Mr. Page
The business link IT strategy group has defined a mandatory standard format for core contact data, to be held on business links databases, on its target market. This standard has been published to all business links in an IT briefing paper, OSSIT 8 version 2.

§ Mrs. Roche
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what changes he plans to make to the accreditation procedure for business links. [5687]

§ Mr. Page
I am asking the Accreditation Advisory Board to conduct a full review of the accreditation requirements at its January 1997 meeting. The board will then advise me urgently on any changes or enhancements that it believes are required in the light of the first six months' operation of the accreditation arrangements.

§ Mrs. Roche
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what training is undertaken by personal business advisers in business links. [5442]
30W

§ Mr. Page
[holding answer 21 November 1996]For the purposes of accreditation, business links are required to ensure that personal business advisers spend a minimum of 60 hours a year on training and professional development and that their managers regularly review and agree the training and development needs of each team member.
My Department has also sponsored the development of a modular framework for continuing professional development, which most PBAs are engaged in.