§ Mr. Roger KingTo ask the Minister for the Civil Service if he will make a statement on progress in the "next steps" initiative.
§ Mr. RentonProgress is good. During April we expect the total of agencies launched to grow to 72. About 290,000 civil servants, half the total, will be working in agencies and other organisations operating on "next steps" lines. In addition, 27 candidates have been announced covering over 65,000 more civil servants. Many other areas are under consideration. As Cm 1760—"Improving Management in Government—the Next Steps Agencies, Review 1991"—shows, "next steps" is delivering benefits for customers, staff and taxpayers.
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The list of agencies established or to he established during April 1992 is: Staff1 Accounts Services Agency 90 ADAS Agency2 2,500 Building Research Establishment 700 Cadw (Welsh Historic Monuments) 230 Central Office of Information3 670 Central Science Laboratory2 370 Central Statistical Office 1,090 Central Veterinary Laboratory 590 Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment4 600 Civil Service College 230 Companies House3 1,070 Compensation Agency2 5 150 Defence Research Agency 12,150 Directorate General of Defence Accounts4 2,130 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency 4,580 Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency2 5 250 Driving Standards Agency 2,080 Duke of York's Royal Military School2 100 DVOIT2 590 Employment Service 38,400 Fire Service College2 3 160 Forensic Science Service 600
Staff1 Historic Royal Palaces 330 Historic Scotland 630 HMS03 3,250 Hydrographic Office4 860 Insolvency Service 1,470 Intervention Board 980 Laboratory of the Government Chemist 340 Land Registry 9,800 Medicines Control Agency 300 Meteorological Office 2,390 Military Survey4 1,300 National Engineering Laboratory 390 National Physical Laboratory 830 National Weights and Measures Laboratory 50 Natural Resources Institute 440 Naval Aircraft Repair Organisation2 4 1,510 NHS Estates 120 Occupational Health Service 100 Ordnance Survey 2,380 Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland2 5 210 Patent Office3 1,080 Planning Inspectorate2 630 Public Record Office2 440 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre 60 Queen Victoria School2 60 Radiocommunications Agency 520 RAF Maintenance4 13,300 Rate Collection Agency5 270 Recruitment and Assessment Services Agency 240 Registers of Scotland 1,280 Royal Mint3 1,020 Scottish Agricultural Science Agency2 140 Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency 210 Service Children's Schools (North West Europe)4 2,300 Social Security Agency5 5,350 Social Security Benefits Agency 63,100 Social Security Contributions Agency 8,000 Social Security Information Technology Services Agency 4,000 Social Security Resettlement Agency 520 Teachers' Pensions Agency2 300 The Buying Agency5 110 Training and Employment Agency 1,670 Transport Research Laboratory2 580 United Kingdom Passport Agency 1,250 Valuation Office 5,200 Vehicle Certification Agency 80 Vehicle Inspectorate3 1,820 Veterinary Medicines Directorate 80 Warren Spring Laboratory 310 Wilton Park Conference Centre 30 72 in number 210,960 Customs and Excise6 (30 executive units) 26,800 Inland Revenue6 (34 executive offices) 62,100 Total7 299,860 Number of civil servants in the above total8 290,490 The list of candidates for agency status announced by Ministers is as follows:
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1Staff Army Logistics9 12,700 Chessington Computer Centre 440 Child Support Agency5 10 see note Common Services Division9 1,700 Defence Animal Centre9 150 Defence Operational Analysis Establishment9 180 Defence Postal Courier Service9 600 Defence Statistics Organisation9 150 Directorate Information Technology Bureau Services9 120 Equipment Test and Evaluation9 2,220 Fuel Suppliers Branch 20 Her Majesty's Prison Service 34,900
1 Staff Human Factors Research9 390 Meat Hygiene Service11 see note Ministry of Defence Police9 4,550 Naval Training9 5,040 Office of Population Censuses and Surveys 2,150 Pesticide Safety Directorate 150 Property Division 120 Property Holdings Portfolio Management 460 Royal Air Force Training9 11,200 Royal Parks 580 Scottish Office Superannuation 160 Scottish Prison Service 4,100 Social Security Child Support Agency12 see note Valuation and Lands Office5 350 Youth Treatment Service 220 TOTAL (27 in number)7 82,650 Number of civil servants in the above total8 66,320 1 1 October 1991 figures for civil servants and armed forces personnel. Casuals are excluded. Part-time staff are counted as half units. 2 Expected to be launched in April 1992. 3 Trading fund. 4 Defence Support Agency. 5 Northern Ireland civil service. 6 Departments operating fully on "next steps" lines. Staffing figures for Inland Revenue exclude the Valuation Office, which is a free-standing agency. 7 Figure for total staff in agencies includes 8,070 armed forces personnel in Ministry of Defence agencies and 1,300 locally engaged staff in service children's schools (north-west Europe). Figure for total staff in candidates includes 16,330 armed forces personnel in Ministry of Defence candidates. 8 Includes in the totals 7,900 staff in agencies and 350 staff in candidates in the Northern Ireland civil service. 9 May be launched as a Defence Support Agency. 10 Estimated to require 550 staff by April 1993. Of these 120 will come from the Northern Ireland Social Security Agency. 11 Estimated to require 1,800 staff, drawn from a variety of sources. 12 From early 1993 the agency is estimated to require 4,500 staff, 1,500 of which will come from the Social Security Benefits Agency.
§ Mr. John MarshallTo ask the Minister for the Civil Service how many chief executives of "next steps" agencies have been recruited following open competition.
§ Mr. RentonThe Government's objective in appointing agency chief executives is to get the right person for the job. Open competition is now the norm, and about two thirds of chief executives and chief executives-designate —47 out of 74—have been recruited in this way.