HC Deb 07 March 1988 vol 129 cc18-20
76. Mr. Chapman

To ask the Minister for the Civil Service if he will give a timetable for implementing the four principal recommendations of the Efficiency Unit report "Improving Management in Government: The Next Steps".

Mr. Luce

One of the recommendations, the appointment of a project manager, has already been implemented. One of his first tasks will be to establish a timetable for implementing the other recommendations, and I hope to publish it at an early date.

Mr. Chapman

It is less than a month since my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made the statement in the House in reply to the Efficiency Unit's report. Will my right hon. Friend accept that there has been widespread acclaim for many of the recommendations of that report, both from inside the Civil Service and from many outside? Does he agree that the best way to keep up this momentum for change, which is generally accepted, is by setting a timetable for the implementation of the four principal recommendations?

Mr. Luce

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, and he is right to say that there is widespread support for the reforms and changes that are being proposed. The support comes not only from outside the Civil Service, but from managers in the Civil Service. We want to proceed as rapidly as we reasonably can, and I hope to be able to publish before too long a list of those organisations that will be the first to be formed into agencies. We will keep up a relentless drive to identify other organisations that might be suitable for the same treatment.