§ Mr. Maplesasked the Secretary of State for Wales 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. Nicholas EdwardsI constantly encourage the staff of my Department to seek ways of improving efficiency. Since 1979, eight efficiency scrutinies have been carried out in the Welsh Office, the most recent being a study of the generation and handling of paper in the Department.
In addition, a critical review of the organisation, functions, tasks and priorities of the whole Department was carried out during the period June 1981 to July 1983.