National Weights and Measures Laboratory (Hansard, 10 April 2001)

§ Dr. Howells

The first stage of the five-yearly Review of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) has now been completed.

NWML will continue as an Executive Agency of the DTI.

NWML is a regulatory body. The current functions of NWML form a coherent group that benefits from being managed as a whole Ministers have therefore decided not to proceed with the alternative option considered by the Review, that of transferring the bulk of NWML's work to NPL Management Ltd. (the company which runs the National Physical Laboratory under contract to the DTI) with a small policy unit kept in the DTI. This organisational separation of policy from operations would risk reducing the quality of the work, and has been criticised by interested parties. The present integrated structure is seen as a great strength of NWML.

As announced on 28 July 2000, Official Report, column 1095W, the reviewer recommended that the policy part of NWML should be taken back into the Department organisationally and that the operational part should be contractorised by merger with NPL, which is already contractorised. However, the Review Steering Board recommended that this option should not be proceeded with until a business plan for the merger could be prepared and until Ministers had assessed its value for money and feasibility.

I have now considered the business plan prepared by NPL Management Ltd. and have received further advice from the Review Steering Board. I have also had the benefit of representations made by many interested parties. I accept that the merger with NPL would result in financial savings to the Department, but they are relatively modest. However, I have come to the conclusion that the benefits to the Department, to the users of NWML's services, and to the UK, which arise from having NWML run as an integrated body outweigh these potential savings.

This announcement will appear on the DTI's website.