To ask the President of the Board of Trade what guidelines his Department issues to companies dealing with small businesses which do not hold BS5750.

My Department does not issue guidelines to industry o the use of BS5750. The decision whether or not to specify the standard is a commercial one for purchasers, many of whom find it useful in providing assurance of quality control and satisfaction of customer needs.BS5750 should be relevant to small companies as well as larger ones, and indeed many have found that it brings significant advantages in terms of greater efficiency and better quality control. There may, however, be circumstances in which specification of the standard would be inappropriate, and purchasers would be wise to ensure that the standard is not applied indiscriminately.