Written question asked by Andy Reed (Labour) on Wednesday, 30 January 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 6 February 2002. It was answered by Patricia Hewitt (Labour) on Wednesday, 6 February 2002 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

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Dept of Trade and Industry

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, if she will make it her policy to promote innovation in the textile and clothing industry by supporting a series of sector-specific events highlighting best practice in product innovation; if she will make it her policy to encourage wool textile manufacturers and trade associations to promote British wool textile as a generic brand; if she will undertake a study of the reasons for the differing performance of the clothing industries in (a) Italy, (b) Germany, (c) France and (d) the UK; what steps her Department is taking to broker the participation of UK textile manufacturers in collaborative EU programmes, with particular reference to (a) LINK and (b) Eureka; if she will undertake to fund activities that will lead to the development of stronger networks amongst (a) technical textile manufacturers, (b) universities and colleges and (c) other parts of the supply chain in the textile industry; if her Department will arrange a series of regional seminars to highlight the availability of funding for technological innovation in the textile and clothing industry; if she will establish a flexible support fund to support individual companies in the textile and clothing industries undertaking small-scale innovation and developmental work; if her Department will continue to fund technology transfer activities involving technical textile companies and academic institutions; if she will undertake to fund a study of best practice in the Italian textile and clothing industry and how it might be adapted to the UK; if she will make it her policy to ensure the availability of funding to support technological innovation in the textile industry; and if she will make a statement; what steps she is taking to enable traditional textile companies to diversify into technical textiles. - Includes figures.

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Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

379 c970-2W;379 c965-7W; 33269;33278;33275;33279;33272;33271;33270;33277;33276;33280;33273

Session

2001-02

Subjects

Clothing Finance Innovation Germany France Manufacturing industries Marketing Universities Small businesses Technology Research Wool Textiles Technology transfer Trade associations Italy Eureka Diversification LINK programme

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk