HC Deb 15 January 1990 vol 165 c113W
Mr. Tim Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what specific financial, efficiency and quality of service targets he has approved for the Resettlement Agency for the current year and for the longer term.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard

The Resettlement Agency was initially set the following specific targets, which are subject to annual review:Efficiency and effectiveness of Units

  1. (a) To achieve a cumulative reduction of a least 1.5 per cent. per annum in the running costs of DSS resettlement units net of accommodation charges over the next three years (ie 1989–90 to 1991–92) without reducing standards. The savings will be made available for redeployment within the Agency budget, in accordance with nil cost package. The chief executive will produce proposals for use of the 1989–90 savings to the July 1989 meeting with Under-Secretaries.
  2. (b) To establish a training strategy for staff, by March 1990.
  3. (c) To present manpower proposals, based on the 1988–89 staff inspection to the September 1989 meeting with Under-Secretaries.
  4. (d) To devise a scheme to assist resettlement units' managers to compare the effectiveness of units on a common basis, with an interim report in March 1990.

Replacement programmes As provided for in the financial plan, to close:—

  • 1990–91 2 Units
  • 1991–92 4 Units

Efficiency and effectiveness of replacement provision To commission and mount a research study to monitor the 36-bed direct access hostel opened in January 1989 and run by the London borough of Lewisham as part of the scheme to replace the Camberwell resettlement unit in 1985. The objective will he to examine the service provided both to ensure value for money and that a good standard of care and resettlement results.