§ Mr. KynochTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the performance of the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency against its targets for 1992–93 and the setting of targets for 1993–94.
§ Mr. LangThe agency has very largely achieved the key performance targets for 1992–93, the first year of its operation, which I set out in my answer of 9 March 1992 at column397.
For 1993–94 I have set the agency the following key performance targets.
completion of 95 per cent. of all scientific tests and analyses within the timescale set by the customers;evaluation of quality assurance schemes for all major services leading to candidature for accreditation during 1994–95;improvement of the quantitative indices of performance of the Agency (ie its unit costs) by at least 1.5 per cent.;recovery of full economic costs for charged services;formal consultation of the views of all customers on the quality of the work done by the Agency in 1993–94;completion of the first annual cycle of the accruals accounting system developed in 1992–93.