§ 29. Dr. PalmerTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what actions his Department is taking to promote science parks based at leading universities. [105779]
§ Ms HewittThe Government are wholly aware of the importance of business incubation and science parks and has provided £35 million to set up UK Business Incubation as a centre for promoting best practice among fledging companies. The centre acts as a catalyst to extract the maximum benefit from the business incubation process in the UK by promoting best practices, better networking, and encouraging uptake of business incubation. Turning to science parks there over 60 science parks in the UK, including Cambridge, Aston, Durham and Coventry; the majority are based in or around major universities. There are close links between the parks and universities which strengthen the transfer of technology and business skills in order to foster the development and growth of business.