§ Mrs. LawrenceTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his plans are for the Quinquennial Reviews of CCTA and PACE which are due in the next year.
§ Mr. Andrew SmithThe Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) and Property Advisers to the Civil Estate (PACE) are part of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) which became operational on 1 April this year. Since 1 April, key strategies for the new organisation have been developed, and a review has been put in hand to ensure that resources and the organisational structure support those strategies. The terms of reference for the review are
To review the present structure of OGC, covering its executive agencies and all other units; and to make recommendations on how best to align OGC's resources to deliver successfully its vision and strategies. The review will take into account the views of stakeholders including staff, central departments, other departments, customers and suppliers. It will also take account of requirements for Agency quinquennial reviews, in order to provide the specific reviews required for CCTA and PACE in the next year.In ensuring that the review will take account of the need for quinquennial reviews of CCTA and PACE, it will consider past performance, organisational options for service delivery and ways in which service can be improved. These issues are also relevant to the whole organisation, not just CCTA and PACE. Similarly, the organisational review will incorporate an independent input and will seek the views of both customers and suppliers about how the OGC as a whole can best catalyse the most efficient and effective use of the civil procurement budget.