The Department of Trade and Industry is to invite senior business figures to be part of a new strategy board designed to make the Government organisation more business-friendly.

DTI civil servants will also spend a week every year working in industry, to learn about the pressures of business and the problems of coping with Government red tape. The reforms are part of a structural review of the DTI ordered by Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt.

She said: "The DTI's core role is to drive up productivity and competitiveness - helping UK business to become more successful and creating better products, better jobs and more wealth for our economy. Our strategic priorities in helping deliver this will be promoting innovation, spurring enterprise, and building competitive frameworks."

The business members of the Strategy Board will form a Council of Business Advisers similar to the Council of Economic Advisers at the Treasury. They will offer guidance on the department's overall strategy but day-to-day decisions will remain with department's ministers. The measures announced will also include the appointment somebody to look into regulations that impact significantly on small and medium enterprises. Details can be found at www.dti.go.uk. (November 26, 2001)