To ask the President of the Board of Trade what responsibility his Department has for the areas of competitiveness and deregulation. [38449]

My Department remains central to the Government's work on competitiveness and deregulation.The drive for enhanced competitiveness underlies the Department's programmes of support and assistance to business, including export promotion, innovation and small firms support initiatives.Following the transfer of the central deregulation unit to the Cabinet Office, my Department retains specific responsibility for ensuring that the deregulation initiative is reflected in the way DTI itself undertakes regulation which impacts on business.