§ Lord Kilmarnockasked Her Majesty's Government:
What percentage of the work of the Civil Service has been devolved to Next Steps agencies; what savings have been made to date; how far it is intended to extend the agency model; and what annual savings are expected once the process is complete.
§ The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Wakeham)Sixty per cent. of the Civil Service is currently working on Next Steps lines. On present projections we expect this to rise to at least 75 per cent. by the end of the programme. The aim of the Next Steps programme is to deliver government services more effectively and efficiently within available resources for the benefit of taxpayers, customers and staff. Ministers set each agency key targets related to its financial performance and to improvements in efficiency and quality of service. Details of the work and performance of all 92 agencies against their targets will be included in the 1993 Next Steps Review, which will be published shortly.