§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the quality of service performance indicators adopted by Companies House, the Insolvency Service, the laboratory of the Government chemist, the national engineering laboratory, the national physical laboratory, the national weights and measures laboratory, the Patent Office, the Radiocommunications Agency and the Warren Spring laboratory since their establishment as executive agencies; and if he will identify separately those quality of service performance indicators already operative prior to agency status in each case.
§ Mr. LilleyChief executives and other managers in agencies will set and monitor their own internal management targets for performance, including quality of service measures. However, a distinctive feature of next steps has been the setting by Ministers, and a formal announcement, of targets for agencies, and publication of details of their subsequent performance.
For details of these ministerial targets for individual agencies I refer the hon. Member to the lists of targets in the eighth report of the Treasury and Civil Service Committee in the 1989–90 Session (HC-481). Since then further quality of service targets have been announced for the Insolvency Service, 29 April 1991, Official Report, col. 153; Companies House—9 May, Official Report, col. 559; and the National Weights and Measures Laboratory-16 May, Official Report, col. 245.
The hon. Member may wish to know that a further consolidated list of current targets will be published shortly as part of the evidence given to the Treasury and Civil Service Committee's recent inquiry into next steps.
§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much was spent on events and publicity surrounding the launch as executive agencies of Companies House, the Insolvency Service, the laboratory of the Government chemist, the national engineering laboratory, the national physical laboratory, the national weights and measures laboratory, the Patent Office, the Radiocommunications Agency and the Warren Spring laboratory; and whether the cost was borne by the parent department or the new agency.
§ Mr. LilleyThe launch of each agency was an operational matter for the chief executive. I have therefore asked each chief executive to write to the hon. Member.
§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what is the maximum salary payable to the chief executives and the length of time of the chief executives' contracts of Companies House, the Insolvency Service, the laboratory of the Government chemist, the national engineering laboratory, the national physical laboratory, the national weights and measures laboratory, the Patent Office, the Radiocommunications Agency and the Warren Spring laboratory;
(2) if he will list the new forms of alternative working patterns introduced in Companies house, the Insolvency Service, the laboratory of the Government chemist, the national engineering laboratory, the national physical laboratory, the national weights and measures laboratory, 715W the Patent Office, the Radiocommunications Agency and the Warren Spring laboratory along with a break-down by grade of the numbers of staff taking up each new working pattern.
§ Mr. LilleyThis is an operational matter for the chief executive. I have therefore asked each chief executive to write to the hon. Member.
§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many staff were in post on the date Companies house, the Insolvency Service, the laboratory of the Government chemist, the national engineering laboratory, the national physical laboratory, the national weights and measures laboratory, the Patent Office, the Radiocommunications Agency and the Warren Spring laboratory were established as executive agencies; and how many staff are in post now.
§ Mr. LilleyThe numbers of staff in post for each executive agency both in the month of launch and for this month are listed in the table.
Agency Staff in post1 Staff in post2 Companies House 1,042.5 1,070.0 Insolvency Service 1,368.0 1,493.5 Laboratory of the Government Chemist 316.0 348.5 National Engineering Laboratory 426.0 388.5 National Physical Laboratory 820.0 829.5 National Weights and Measures Laboratory 43.0 47.5 Patent Office 1,161.0 1,115.0 Radiocommunications 461.0 509.5 Warren Spring Laboratory 293.0 310.5 These numbers represent permanent staff with part-timers counted as half. Casuals are excluded.
1 Taken at the start of the month of launch.
21 July 1991.
§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what group bonus schemes are in operation in Companies house, the insolvency service, the laboratory of the Government chemist, the national engineering laboratory, the national physical laboratory, the national weights and measures laboratory, the Patent Office, the Radiocommunications Agency and the Warren Spring laboratory; and what was the cash amount per person awarded in the last year for which figures are available, and the conditions attached to the awards.
§ Mr. LilleyWithin DTI group bonus schemes are currently in operation at Companies House, laboratory of the Government chemist and Radiocommunications Agency. The chief executive will write to the hon. Member with the detailed information he is seeking.