§ Mr. CotterTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what procedures his Department has established to monitor the quality of services by Business Links. [87714]
415W
§ Mr. WillsThe Department has a range of procedures to monitor the quality of services provided by Business Links.
The main procedure is a system of Accreditation under which each Business Link is required to meet rigorous quality standards in order to be able to use the Business Link brand. These standards are set by an independent Accreditation Advisory Board and include meeting ISO9001 and Investors in People requirements as well as other specific requirements, for example, on customer service. The Accreditation Advisory Board is responsible for advising Ministers on whether or not each Business Link is meeting the standards.
Business Links are also required to submit information on a quarterly basis on the number of businesses and individuals who have accessed different services and the fee income they have generated. Government Offices use this data, along with local intelligence, to monitor the performance of individual Business Links. Copies of these reports are held in the Library of the House. From April 1998, we have also required Business Links to track the impact of their services on client businesses.
At national level the performance of the Business Link Network as a whole is assessed through regular customer satisfaction and evaluation studies. The most recent evaluation report on Business Links was published in October 1998. A copy of this is also available in the Library of the House.