§ Mr. FishburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his Department's response to the next steps initiative.
§ Mr. Kenneth CarlisleThe Ministry of Defence is making a substantial response to next steps. Two executive and six defence support agencies have been established, employing over 34,000 service and civilian staff.
My Department's response to next steps is part of the major programme of defence management reform, which has been described in successive Statements on the Defence Estimates. Next steps places particular emphasis on efficiency, standards of service to customers and value for money. The Ministry of Defence's support organisations provide services to internal and external customers, including operational units. Higher standards of service and performance will enhance the overall effectiveness of our defence capability. Agency disciplines will be 448W important in shaping the smaller, more flexible and higher-quality support structure that will be needed in the future. The agency programme will be an important part of my Department's contribution to the citizens charter initiative.
My Department will undergo substantial restructuring as a result of "Options for Change" and the PROSPECT study of the headquarters. We therefore intend to proceed on the basis of a two-year next steps programme. This will give us more scope to take account of continuing work on "Options for Change" and PROSPECT, while maintaining the necessary momentum on next steps.
We shall aim to make early progress on reviews of agency status for tri-service helicopter repair, the Ministry of Defence police, the defence operational analysis establishment, central computer bureau services, the defence animal centre, defence statistics, common services, the Queen Victoria school, Dunblane and the Duke of York's royal military school, Dover. We would aim to complete as many as possible of these reviews and, if the outcome is positive, establish agencies by the end of this financial year. We shall continue our review of RAF training, taking into account current studies of the structure and organisation of the RAF support area, aiming to complete it as soon as we can. We shall also begin reviews of naval training, Army logistics, test and evaluation, human factors research and some communications services, aiming to complete these by the end of the second year. Other organisations may be added to the list as the future shape of the support area becomes clearer. Equally, there is no presumption from inclusion in the list that the organisation concerned will become an agency. This is a review process which involves, inter alia, consideration of alternative options, including privatisation and contracting out.