§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will list the members of the Action 2000 group; if she will make a statement on its remit; and to what extent its work supercedes that of Taskforce 2000. [20373]
§ Mrs. Beckett[holding answer 11 December 1997]: I have appointed Don Cruickshank to be Chairman of Action 2000 and he is consulting a range of organisations about the membership of the Advisory Board, as required by the terms of his appointment. His selection of members 518W will then be made in consultation with me and taking due account of the Code of Practice published by the Commissioner on Public Appointments.
On the question of Action 2000's remit, I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to the hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) on 17 November 1997, Official Report, columns 50–51 and on 19 November 1997, Official Report, columns 190–91.
The Department's funding of Taskforce 2000 will cease on 31 March 1998 or when the £350,000 to which we are committed has been spent, whichever is the sooner. The emphasis needs to shift from telling businesses that a problem exists to ensuring that they take appropriate action, and I established Action 2000 to look at all aspects of the problem.
§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what representatives she has received in respect of the work of Taskforce 2000; and if she will place copies of all representations in the Library. [20374]
§ Mrs. BeckettThe Government have discussed the work of Taskforce 2000 with several organisations, including the CBI, the Federation of the Electronics Industry, the Computing Services and Software Association, the National Computing Centre, and Action 2000. We have also received unsolicited letters from companies and private individuals. Unsolicited representations are treated in confidence by the Department.