HL Deb 30 April 1990 vol 518 cc891-2WA
Lord Lyell

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What progress has been made in establishing Ordnance Survey as a Next Steps Agency.

Lord Hesketh:

Ordnance Survey becomes an executive agency on 1st May and Mr. Peter McMaster, a barrister and professional surveyor who is the present director general, will be its first chief executive.

Ordnance Survey will continue to be a separate government department but as an agency it will be able to develop and expand its business on increasingly commercial lines. It will be expected to achieve progressively more demanding targets and for 1990-91 we have brought forward by one year the agency's key financial target to recover not less than 55 per cent. of the total annual cost of core activities; this will rise to 65 per cent. by 1992-93. Other financial objectives are:

to recover at least 100 per cent. of the total cost of public sector repayment at home and overseas; to maximise the return on small scales and special products and recover not less than 110 per cent. of the total cost in that category.

These targets are subsumed in the principal financial target shown at (a) below.

For 1990-91 the performance of Ordnance Survey will be monitored by the following financial, productivity and quality of service targets which are linked to the strategic objectives set out in the framework document.

  1. (a) to recover at least 65 per cent of the total cost incurred by the agency;
  2. (b) to survey 0.93 million house units (based on construction forecasts for major developments) so as to keep the national mapping of Great Britain up-to-date;
  3. (c) to increase from 81,000 to 97,000 the number of basic scale maps available in digital form;
  4. (d) to publish on microfilm within four months, each large-scale map reaching the criteria and specification for reproduction;
  5. (e) to dispatch within seven working days (including the day the order is received), 90 per cent. of orders for 1:50,000 folded maps.

The levels of delegation to the director general for capital expenditure and new information technology projects have been increased to £1 million and £2 million respectively.

Copies of the framework document have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.