HC Deb 30 July 1998 vol 317 cc558-9W
Mr. Cotter

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what extra provision of funds will be allocated to her Department following the Comprehensive Spending Review to address the millennium computer compliance problem. [52905]

Mr. Battle

An extra £17 million of funding for Action 2000 was announced on 30 March 1998,Official Report, column 384. The Comprehensive Spending Review, which set the Department's overall budgets for the years 1999–2002, did not provide any additional funding earmarked specifically to address particular programmes: this is one of the many issues which the Department will need to bear in mind in allocating its overall budget for work, including any on millennium compliance, for these future years.

Mr. Cotter

To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to her answer of 24 June 1997,Official Report, columns 448–49, how many information packs on the Year 2000 problem have been circulated to small businesses to date. [53086]

Mrs. Roche

More than 70,000 copies of Action 2000's information pack were distributed up to the time of the launch on 15 July of its current media campaign. Since that date, demand for the updated information pack has been at the rate of 300 per day which is expected to increase following the national press advertising campaign by Action 2000 which started on 26 July. To date some 4,000 copies of the new information pack have been issued.

Mr. Cotter

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what research her Department has evaluated on the number of computer programmers available to combat the millennium compliance problem. [52906]

Mrs. Roche

Regular monitoring of the labour market for IT specialists is carried out by the Department for Education and Employment. However, it is not possible to say how many are available to work on millennium compliance at any one time because of competing demands for their services.

Mr. Cotter

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what role Business Links will play in respect of combating the millennium compliance problem. [52908]

Mrs. Roche

Business Links are working with Action 2000 to ensure that, nationally, messages are co-ordinated and that they have the appropriate tools and materials to help their local small and medium sized businesses.

Business Links are already working with these businesses to raise awareness and improve understanding of the Year 2000 problem. They offer advice and signposting to a range of locally or regionally co-ordinated programmes. These programmes help businesses to identify where they may have problems, what actions they need to take to address them, and how to prioritise these actions.