§ Lord Taylor of Warwickasked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they will take to remedy the potential conflict of interest in the operation of Business Link, in its dual role as a broker of advisory services to small firms and as a provider of such services. [HL5225]
164WA
§ Lord Sainsbury of TurvilleBusiness Link operators (BLOs) seek to address gaps in the provision and quality of locally delivered business support services and integrate local Business Link services with what is on offer from other local providers.
All BLOs offer an account management brokerage and referral service and they are encouraged to broker or subcontract as much of their service provision as possible. The brokerage service is most frequently and effectively employed servicing those customers receiving high intensive assistance. This frequently involves the drawing in of specialist expertise from the national Business Link consultants register.
SBS will continue to press BLOs to increase the level of brokerage or subcontracting of business support services to local and/or specialist providers, as a means of ensuring more effective business support in response to customer needs.