H.M. TREASURY

BACKGROUND

The Contact's with Industry (CWI) was conceived by Sir Alan Budd after he perceived that significant benefits could be derived from regular meetings with outside industry economists to help the Treasury monitor developments in the economy. From these initial stages the original idea progressed and the scheme developed until 1996 when Sir Terry Burns suggested that it should be extended to most of the Treasury.

In the original CWI programme only companies that had previous contact with HMT were selected for visits. However, it was realised that broader contacts with industry could have a wide range of benefits. It was decided that one way to increase the visibility and accountability of HM Treasury was give its' officials a wider understanding of businesses and the impact of HM Treasury policy on them. In doing so, it was hoped that the officials might develop their potential to devise more effective policies.

It is however a two way arrangement, because it is anticipated that the host company will benefit from the opportunity to question the Government's representatives on policies that they consider to be most relevant to their business.

The visits generally last one day. We aim to agree an agenda in advance with the host company and decide all the issues to be covered. The format for the visit usually consists of a presentation by the firm, a tour of the factory floor and a discussion, but we are flexible about how this should be arranged. We endeavour to match the size of the visiting group to your requirements and the availability of Treasury officials. It can range from a single person to a small group.

The CWI initiative has been favourably acknowledged by all those businesses which have participated so far, and we have certainly found the feedback from such visits beneficial. There have been recent visits to companies such as Cable & Wireless, The Marshall Group, Short Brothers (Northern Ireland), Warwick Science Park, British Cement Association, Blue Circle and Orange.

The objectives of the scheme are:

To increase the Treasury's knowledge of British Industry and to promote a dialogue between the Treasury and British industry.

We are interested in:

All sizes of firms: from the very small through to medium-size to multinationals: All sectors of industry and all regions of the United Kingdom are of interest.