§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will make a statement on the effect on his Department of the financial management initiative.
§ Mr. RifkindThe FMI builds on work that was already in hand in the Scottish Office to improve management in the Department, and in related bodies, in accordance with the Government's commitment to improving value for money. Key elements of the arrangements introduced for delegated budget setting and control of departmental running costs and for the management of programme290W of known crimes and solved crimes in each of the following categories in (a) 1979 and (b) in 1986 or the latest available year, with a breakdown for each police force area : (i) non-sexual crimes of violence against the person, (ii) sexual crimes of violence against the person, (iii) other crimes involving indecency, (iv) crimes involving dishonesty, (v) vandalism, (vi) other crimes and (vii) road traffic offences.
§ Mr. LangThe information is as follows:
expenditure are described in chapter 2 of "Public Expenditure to 1989–90: A Commentary on the Scotland Programme" which was published on 18 February. Copies are available in the House of Commons Library.
Some of the effects of the FMI are reflected in the targets and output performance measures described in the commentary including, for example, the tightening of staff: student ratios in colleges of Education, and improved effectiveness in fisheries protection activity. Other examples of efforts to ensure better value for money include the development of management information systems in the Scottish prison service, objective appraisal 291W of trunk road bypass schemes, and an extensive programme of financial management surveys covering a wide range of NDPBs.