§ Sir Hal MillerTo ask the Minister for the Civil Service what progress he can report on the next steps initiative.
§ Mr. LuceSince I last reported to the House on 1 February my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced that he has concluded that the Central Office of Information should become an agency. In addition, last week my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Procurement announced the decision to set up the four main non-nuclear research establishments, covering 12,500 staff as a single organisation with the intention that they should become a next steps agency by April 1991. I strongly welcome both these announcements, which illustrate the importance which the Government attach to the next steps initiative.