To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will reconsider the eligibility criteria of 500 employees contained in the new enterprise consultancy package, particularly in those industries such as the knitting industry which are comparatively labour-intensive and thus disadvantaged in comparison with firms in capital-intensive sectors.

No. I am satisfied that the eligibility criteria we have adopted will ensure that the new enterprise initiative consultancy services will encourage greater use of outside expert advice by those firms which are most likely to benefit from such advice but which are less likely to use such advice without assistance from the Government. Larger firms are more likely to pay for their own outside advice as a matter of normal commercial policy.