§ Mr. Maplesasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps have been taken by his Department since May 1979 to improve its efficiency; what has been the result; what further steps are currently being taken to improve efficiency; what the results are expected to be; and what output criteria have been developed by his Department to help measure its efficiency.
§ Mr. WhitneySince May 1979 the Diplomatic wing and the Overseas Development Administration of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have carried out 11 efficiency scrutinies with a further four planned or in progress this year. In the ODA the 1980 management review led to a substantial restructuring of its organisation and procedures. Manpower requirements in both wings have also been rigorously reviewed by the staff inspectorate and overall manpower provision has been reduced by 11.6 per cent. A further reduction of 7.6 per cent. is planned by 1988. Where it has been shown to be cost-effective, services and functions have been hived-off or contracted out. Details of measures initiated under the financial management initiative are given in part 2 of the 1983 White Paper on financial management (Cmnd. 9058); a further White Paper giving details of progress will be published later this month.
Output scrutinies are applied where practicable to activities which lend themselves to measurement. Further effort is being made to develop criteria in other areas in co-operation with the efficiency unit.