§ 17. Mr. Michael McNair-Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will introduce new means for monitoring the performance of the nationalised industries for which he has responsibility.
§ Mr. Michael MarshallWe continually seek to improve performance monitoring. For instance, we have just set in hand new monitoring arrangements to assess the British Steel Corporation's progress towards the targets set in the corporate plan.
§ Mr. McNair-WilsonIs my hon. Friend satisfied with the concept of four-year corporate plans? Most of industry appears to believe that two years is as far into the future as anyone can reasonably look, and even then with a six-month update. Why should nationalised industries suppose that they can look four years into the future with any accuracy?
§ Mr. MarshallThere is a danger in generalising. Each industry should be considered separately. I recognise that there may be some variety in the period that different industries can look ahead. In general, I lean towards the idea of trying to get as long a look ahead as possible.
§ Mr. StokesIs not the answer to the long-term problem of nationalised industries to denationalise as many of there as possible as quickly as possible?
§ Mr. MarshallThis is not the first time that my hon. Friend has put his finger on the answer. We are progressing rapidly down the road that he has described—for example, British Aerospace, the National Freight Co. and the British Transport Docks Board. The list continues and there will be many more before this Session is over.