§ Mr. Lathamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will make a statement on the effect on his Department of the financial management initiative.
§ Mr. BrookeThe financial management initiative in 1982 covered a wide range of management reforms. These reforms were all aimed at helping to give better value for money from public expenditure, and it is increasingly unrealistic to try to identify separately the effects of the financial management initiative, of other specific initiatives to manage resources better, and of good management generally.
Progress in Departments' programmes of financial management improvements has included the introduction 574W of top management information systems, budgets for over 1,500 managers with individual responsibility for managing resources, and new information and control systems to set budgets and measure performance. Departments have used these systems to help Ministers and senior officials set and achieve targets for improving efficiency. Some of these improvements can be seen in the public expenditure White Paper (Cm. 56), the Board of Customs and Excise's annual report and management plan, the Board of Inland Revenue's annual report and senior management system" the annual report and accounts from Her Majesty's Stationery Office and the Central Office of Information, and the Department for National Savings' annual report. Copies of these documents are in the Library. They show, for example, Customs and Excise's target to increase in real terms the yield from VAT control visits by at least 12 per cent. in 1987–88 and the same amount in 1986–87 on top of an increase of 7 per cent. already achieved in 1985–86. In Her Majesty's Stationery Office, which operates as a trading fund, manpower numbers have been reduced from 6,276 to 3,350 over the last seven years, while turnover has risen to almost £300 million. Financial objectives have been met each year and price increases kept to a minimum. In the Inland Revenue there has been a steady increase in the number of taxpayers dealt with per staff unit.
The Treasury has helped Departments to develop their financial management and monitored their progress. The Public Accounts Committee took evidence on this work from the permanent under-secretary on 1 December 1986.