§ Mr. KynochTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to improve the way in which the Scottish Office sponsors non-departmental public bodies.
§ Mr. LangThe Scottish Office is currently responsible for 49 executive non-departmental public bodies—NDPBs–110 advisory NDPBs and 14 tribunals. These bodies received Government funding of £1.5 billion in 1993–94–10 per cent. of Scottish Office total resources—and play a significant role in the delivery of Government services in Scotland.
The business of ensuring the accountability of these NDPBs to me, and through me to Parliament, is a key task for my staff at the Scottish Office. Last year, therefore, the Scottish Office carried out an efficiency scrutiny to look for ways of improving still further our sponsorship arrangements.
The scrutiny report clearly identifies a general shift over recent years to a more strategic relationship with NDPBs. This involves delegation to each NDPB, to the maximum extent practicable, of responsibility for running its own affairs, within an agreed strategic framework. But across the Scottish Office the pace of change has varied considerably. The scrutiny report recommends a co-ordinated approach to the process of change.
284WI welcome the scrutiny report, and have put in hand a three-year programme to implement its recommendations. This will comprise new training and development programmes for staff involved in sponsorship; the provision of more advice and assistance to these sponsor staff; and action programmes for putting strategic frameworks into place for each NDPB as appropriate.
Taken together, the range of initiatives set out in the action statement will clarify relationships between sponsor and NDPB, and strengthen further the accountability and effectiveness of NDPBs in Scotland.
I have today placed copies of the efficiency scrutiny report and the action statement in the House Libraries.