§ Mr. Maplesasked the Attorney-General 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.
§ The Attorney-GeneralIn a Department as small and specialised as the Law Officers' Department (which comprises, in addition to the Solicitor-General and myself, only nine professional officers, six secretaries and four Registry staff in London and one secretary in Belfast) steps to enhance efficiency cannot rely on sophisticated management techniques but must necessarily concentrate on methods of improving the procedures for the recording, retrieval, circulation and processing of correspondence, opinions and precedents etc.
Accordingly, during the period in question, my Department has reorganised its registry and, in particular, its filing methods. It has also introduced improved 353W procedures to ensure the timely consideration of inquiries and complaints from Members of Parliament and the public and the prompt provision of answers to them.
To assist in these improvements, the Department has very recently installed a microcomputer, and the new systems which this enables us to employ are now becoming fully operational and are already showing useful results. Additionally, and in collaboration with the Treasury Solicitor's Department, which is responsible for the Law Officers' Department's finances and administration, we have also devised more effective procedures for keeping check on our routine expenditure on such items as textbooks, stationery and travelling expenses.
I attach great importance to the speed and efficiency, as well as the economy, of the way in which my Department carries out its functions, and I therefore have exercised a close personal supervision over the introduction and operation of the measures that I have described. I will continue to do so.