Written question asked by Vincent Cable (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 24 October 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 7 November 2002. It was answered by Patricia Hewitt (Labour) on Thursday, 7 November 2002 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Dept of Trade and Industry

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what (a) financial and (b) other support was provided for the Process Improvement Master Class in (i) 1998-99, (ii) 1999-00 and (iii) 2000-01; what budget there is for 2001-02; and if she will make a statement. (Printed on 04.11.2002 in Bound Volume 392 c152W)

Answer: Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what (a) financial and (b) other support was provided for the Process Improvement Master Class in (i) 1998-99, (ii) 1999-00 and (iii) 2000-01; what budget there is for 2001-02; and if she will make a statement. [78262] Ms Hewitt: The Process Improvement Master Class (PIMC) is one of the products offered by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Industry Forum, whose remit is to help small and medium enterprises improve their productivity. PIMC was developed for the automotive sector, but has also been used in the aerospace sector. The amount of financial support provided for PIMC by my Department is shown in the table: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. £ million 1998-99 1.391 1999-2000 1.613 2000-01 2.298 2001-02 1.317 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. My Department also provided a secondee, at HEO level, to SMMT Industry Forum over this period.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 392 c835W;392 (Not in Bound Volume); 78262
Session: 2001-02
Subjects: Finance Industry Motor vehicles Training Small businesses Aerospace industry Productivity Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders