Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the performance of the Mentors Me website.

Last year the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) funded the creation of a network of 27,000 accredited business mentors and partnered with the British Bankers Association (BBA) and Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI) to create the mentorsme website. BBA and SFEDI now lead this initiative and have established a sector-led Enterprise Mentoring Advisory Council with responsibility for assessing the performance of the mentorsme website and the initiative overall.

The Advisory Council also have responsibility for upholding the standards for enterprise mentoring, promoting awareness of the benefits of and access to enterprise mentoring and acting as a central policy advisory group.

BIS has a seat on the Advisory Council and continues to support mentorsme by driving awareness and take up of mentoring as part of the national Business is GREAT campaign and by sharing research evidence and insight.