Jobs at Risk From Empty Promises Made by Government to Industry

LONDON, September 29, 2010 - The promise made by the Prime Minister, David Cameron, to enable small
and medium sized enterprises, SMEs, to gain a fair share of government
procurement cannot be fulfilled according to the Enterprise Trust, the think
tank for industry specialising in the problems of procurement faced by the UK
manufacturing sector. SMEs employ over two million people.

New research by The Enterprise Trust shows that government is limited in
its procurement processes by legal constraints and by its obligations to the
World Trade Organisation and the European Union. The organisation believes
that reform of all government procurement programmes must be high on the
agenda during any discussions on the economy at the Conservative Party
Conference next week.

Breaking up contracts into small parcels to benefit any commercial sector
will fall foul of discrimination laws which would probably lead to judicial
intervention. If the Government creates a portal through which only SMEs can
gain access, as promised by David Cameron before the election, it will make
contracts of less interest to the big corporations and interfere with the
process of procurement as laid down by the WTO.

The WTO agreement was entered into by Brussels on behalf of all EU member
states.

With its research giving a clear indication that American-style
government procurement processes for business cannot be employed here, The
Trust is asking the coalition Government and the Conservative party to
explain how they intend to ensure value for the tax payer.

To begin the unravelling process towards fair procurement, The Enterprise
Trust is calling for realism in what constitutes discrimination, particularly
now that it is now accepted that some firms who are "Dominant" or "Super
Dominant" in individual markets destroy competition through aggressively low
or predatory pricing.

Said Enterprise Trust Chairman Bill Poeton, "We have to get laws changed
here in the UK and then in the EU so that Brussels and the WTO between them
cannot block fair government procurement processes. Nor should large
companies be allowed to elbow SMEs out of the marketplace of government
procurement, funded by the tax-payer. Until these laws are changed, promises
to allocate 25% of all government purchasing to SMEs responsible for over two
million jobs are empty promises."

For full details of The Enterprise Trust, its position on Government
procurement and the law as it stands, go to the post election report at
www.enterprisetrust.org.uk

Issued by Harrison Communications(PR)

Media contacts, Ben Anderman, General Secretary +44(0)20-7431-8382, Malcolm Harrison, Media Spokesman +44(0)20-7581-8335