To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his Department's target date for the appointment of innovation and technology counsellors by all business links. [33555]

[holding answer 12 July 1995]: The White Paper "Competitiveness: Forging Ahead" announced that up to £4.3 million per year is available to allow all business link partnerships to provide an innovation and technology counseling—ITC—service. Through the appropriate training and education council, each business link has been invited to bid for funds to operate an ITC service, once its business link proposal has been approved by the business link assessment panel. Twenty-two business links already have innovation and technology counsellors and the target for all business links to have an ITC service is summer 1996.