§ Mr. BoothTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what performance targets he has set the Buying Agency for 1994.
§ Mr. BaldryIn support of the objectives set out in the agency's latest corporate and business plans, I have set financial, productivity, customer satisfaction and environmental targets for 1994.
The financial targets are:
- to increase total sales by 14 per cent. from an expected £144.5 million in 1993 to £165 million; and
- to achieve an overall surplus, after interest, of £1.5 million on total sales.
The customer satisfaction targets are:
- to ensure delivery by the due date of at least 90 per cent. of orders handled directly; and
- to resolve 80 per cent. of customer complaints within one month and the rest within three months.
The productivity targets are:
- to increase the sales:staff ratio from £1.3 million per employee in 1993 to £1.375 million per employee; and to reduce the cost of each £1 of sales achieved from an expected 2.8p in 1993 to 2.6p.
The environmental target is:
- to require all suppliers to provide details of their environmental policies and practices as a first step towards establishing appropriate encouragement of best practice.
These targets will require the agency to sustain yet further improvements in growth, efficiency and service to its customers in 1994. They are challenging, but realistic, and I am confident of the agency's ability to meet them.