HC Deb 13 July 1988 vol 137 c268W
50. Mr. Watts

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans he has to implement the next steps strategy within his Department.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke

My right hon. and noble Friend, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and I intend to apply the recommendations in the report "Improving Management in Government: The Next Steps" as rapidly and extensively as possible. We announced in February that the Companies Registration Office was a candidate for transformation into an agency. We hope that the agency will be operational la ter this year. The Department contains a number of other units which are principally involved in the delivery of services and are potential candidates for transformation into executive agencies. They include the DTI research establishments other than the national engineering laboratory, the insolvency service, and business statistics office, the patent office, export services, radiocommunications division, and DTI regional offices. We will be considering over the next year or two whether these units will benefit from conversion into agencies.