Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt MP - Secretary of State for Trade and Industry

I am delighted to introduce the first edition of Public Service Review: DTI. Since my appointment as Trade and Industry Secretary in June, I have been working hard with my team towards our key goals: a modern, competitive UK economy, putting and keeping the UK at the cutting edge of new technology and making sure we make the most of our workforce which means creating better opportunities for all.

In order for us to do all these things, our own structure and support services need to be the most effective they can be. That is why, soon after my appointment, I initiated two urgent reviews: one of our role, structure and priorities; the other of the business support we offer to our key customers. A key part of the review process involved talking to our key stakeholders about their perceptions of the DTI and what they wanted from the Department.

The people we spoke to said that we lack direction. They said our organisation is confusing. They said we don't involve our customers enough. They said that, while we offer some good business support schemes, we confuse businesses with the plethora of initiatives we offer and we don't make sure that they all add real value. This is going to change.

DTI's mission is to work with businesses, employees and consumers to drive up sustainable UK productivity and competitiveness. That is our goal. And to make sure we stay on target we will have a new productivity strategy that will focus everything we do. A key challenge will be to make sure our business support schemes and networks work even better for the businesses that use them.

First, we are sorting out who does what in our regional networks. We need to clarify the roles of the different agencies involved in delivering the DTI's agenda - Business Links, Regional Development Agencies and the Government Offices. So we are concentrating business support in Business Links locally and in the RDAs who will, in future, handle most of the applications for Regional Selective Assistance.

Second, we're putting an end to the muddle of business support initiatives, cutting out ineffective schemes, simplifying our procedures and making sure our support has maximum impact. From hundreds of low impact support schemes we'll move to a straightforward portfolio system that focuses business support on the areas in which it can make a difference: innovation, regional investment; international trade and investment; enterprise and; people and skills.

But it's not just about support. We are also going to appoint a small business equivalent of Lord Haskins - the chair of the Government's Better Regulation Taskforce - with a wide remit to look into regulations impacting significantly on small and medium sized enterprises.

Regulation is an area where I know business expects Government to act. And we need to if we are to achieve our vision of making the United Kingdom the best place in the world to set up and run a business. We have to accept that regulation is sometimes necessary - not only to protect consumers and employees but also to put in place frameworks which promote and safeguard competition or to ensure that small businesses are paid on time. As a Government we must ensure that the costs the regulations impose are not disproportionate and do not impede productivity and competitiveness. We will continue to work to ensure that unnecessary existing regulations are removed and that new ones are well designed and minimise the burden.

We will work with business, unions and consumers to take forward this and the DTI's wider agenda. I am determined that in doing so we will focus on their needs and on how we can make a real difference for them.