§ Mr. Eggarasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list and describe the studies from within or without his Department relating to the effectiveness and efficiency of his Department together with the recommendations and action taken on those recommendations.
§ Mr. John PattenA very wide range of studies are conducted relating to the effectiveness and efficiency of the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the Northern Ireland Office. They include policy reviews, interdepartmental studies and Rayner scrutinies as well as the continuing work of staff inspection, management services and internal audit. All these exercises form an essential part of normal good management and have been given extra impetus by the Government's determination to cut out unnecessary work, simplify administration and, more generally, get the best value for the taxpayer's money.
Full details about all of these exercises and the action resulting from them could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. But major examples from the past three years include:
- 1. A review of the number of NI Departments and their functions, leading this year to the amalgamation of the Departments of Finance and the Civil Service into the Department of Finance and Personnel and the amalgamation of the Departments of Commerce and Manpower Services into the Department of Economic Development and Industrial Development Board;
- 2. Five Rayner scrutinies covering rate collection system, public debt, financial administration, the NI Employment Service, and the acquisition, management and disposal of land,
387 have been completed. Substantial progress has been made in implementing many of the recommendations in these scrutinies. For example, substantial staff savings will follow from the implementation of the proposals on rate collection and the employment service. This year we have embarked upon a major exercise to strengthen and develop the existing arrangements for the efficient management of financial resources within the Northern Ireland Office and the Northern Ireland Civil Service. A special study on personnel policies in the Northern Ireland Civil Service has been started and a Rayner scrutiny will start in the New Year dealing with the stores system in the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland. Measures are being taken to improve the quality of internal audit and a review of computing in the Northern Ireland Civil Service has been started. There is also a full programme of staff inspection and management services assignments.
In addition, the Northern Ireland Office is subject to the full range of examinations carried out by the Exchequer and Audit Department. Similarly, the Northern Ireland Departments are subject to the examinations carried out by the Northern Ireland Comptroller and Auditor General. In both cases the results of these examinations are reported to the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons.