HC Deb 22 July 1993 vol 229 cc362-3W
Mr. Pickles

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what targets he has set his Department's Accounts Services Agency for 1993–94.

Mr. Sainsbury

I congratulate the chief executive and his staff on the improvements in performance they have made since the agency was established. It is essential that the agency sustains these improvements and builds on them. I have therefore set the agency the following performance targets for 1993–94:

  • to recover the full costs from income for customer work:
  • to fulfil its operational commitments within a net cash requirements in Vote terms of £90,000 or less;
  • to achieve a 4.8 per cent. unit cost reduction over last year based on a mix of services;
  • to make 97 per cent. of all payments within three working days of receipt of the authorisation to pay;
  • to bank all cheques within 36 hours of receipt by the agency, with at least 75 per cent. of them being banked within eight hours of receipt;
  • at the end of each month to ensure that all notified transactions are properly recorded on the Departments 363 financial management information system by the start of the fifth working day of the following month; that operating statements are produced and despatched by the start of the sixth working day of the following month.

In addition, I have set the chief executive of the agency the targets of replying within 10 working days to letters from Members of Parliament delegated to him for reply; and producing auditable commercial-style accounts for the agency for 1993–94.