HC Deb 01 March 1984 vol 55 c382
13. Mr. Thurnham

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress is being made in developing systems of annual performance reviews in his Department.

Mr. Jopling

I assume that my hon. Friend is referring to performance assessments of staff. As my hon. Friend the Minister responsible for the Civil Service said on 28 November last year in reply to my hon. Friend the Member of Enfield, North (Mr. Eggar), the Management and Personnel Office has been discussing with Departments and Civil Service unions major revisions to the procedures for staff reporting and appraisal. My Department is currently considering how it should develop its own systems in the light of these discussions

Mr. Thurnham

I welcome my right hon. Friend back from the Antipodes and ask him whether his experiences there help him to comment further on the benefits expected from these ideas?

Mr. Jopling

The new systems are intended to give a more accurate assessment of each individual's strength and weaknesses and will be used in improving and developing staff and in identifying those whose performance is not up to standard.

Mr. Robert Hughes

In terms of annual performance reviews in his Department, will the Minister accept that the table that he has published in the annual review of net farm income, size by size and commodity by commodity, is a welcome step forward? Will he continue that in future and can he give us comparable figures for the past five years?

Mr. Jopling

I am afraid that I am not able to apply this question to the annual review of farm incomes that we put out a few weeks ago, but perhaps I can write to the hon. Gentleman.