§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures are used by(a) the Defence Analytical Services Agency, (b) the Defence Operational Analysis Centre and (c) the Directorate General of Defence Accounts to assess efficiency.
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§ Mr. HanleyI have asked each of the chief executives to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Letter from P. Altobell to Dr. David Clark, dated 16 December 1993:
Minister of State (DP) has asked me to reply to your Question about the measures used to assess efficiency in my Agency.In DASA we operate a task costing system, and as a result we are able to estimate the cost of producing each of our outputs. This information, together with the replies to our Customer Satisfaction Survey, and the monitoring of established Service Level Agreements, enables changes in efficiency to be assessed.Letter from D. Leadbeater to Dr. David Clark, dated 16 December 1993:
The Minister of State for Defence Procurement has asked me to reply to your Question about the measures used to assess efficiency in my Agency.The Secretary of State has set 7 key Performance Targets for my Agency in 1993–94; these have been published in Hansard. One of these targets specifically calls for an increase in efficiency by 2 per cent. of the cash budget.The Agency maintains tight control of operating costs through a full cost accounting system, hence achieving full visibility of the cost of outputs covering studies, trials, advice and models.In order to meet the 2 per cent. target, the Agency has a set of efficiency measures which are monitored by the Department and are subject to audit.Letter from K. M. Miller to Dr. David Clark, dated 15 December 1993:
Minister of State (DP) has asked me to reply to your question about measuring efficiency in my Agency.My key performance targets for 1993/94 are published in Hansard and include one specifically relating to efficiency. In order to assess whether this target has been met we identify individual measures which we have taken to improve efficiency and we place a value on them by comparing output achieved with the cost of resources utilised, before and after each measure is introduced.Additionally, my Agency routinely maintains records showing the total outputs of the Agency, eg number of bills processed, number of pay accounts managed, etc, and again by relating these to the inpout of resources used in achieving these outputs, they reflect, over a period of time, our efficiency gains.We also carry out surveys of our customers to monitor our performance in meeting their needs.Finally, parts of my Agency are seeking BS5750 accreditation or have adopted Total Quality approaches to their work.This reply has been discussed with, and agreed by, Mr. Mike Dymond, the Chief Executive. I am signing it on his behalf as he is out of the office today.