§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on civil service pay delegation.
§ Mr. DorrellAs set out in the "Citizen's charter: First Report of November 1992", the delegation of pay and grading matters is an important element in the Government's drive to improve quality and efficiency in the provision of public services. By allowing the introduction of pay and grading systems tailored to the objectives and requirements of individual organisations, delegation enhances the ability of managers to manage and develops the Government's policy of linking pay and performance.
By 1 April the 23 home civil service organisations listed in the table below will have taken on responsibility for negotiating the pay and conditions of their own staff. The staff affected—who account for around 55 per cent. of the home civil service—carry out a wide variety of work in locations across the United Kingdom, reflecting the diversity of the organisations concerned. In addition, departments and agencies employing some 40,000 industrial civil servants have decided to take delegated responsibility for pay and grading arrangements. This means that in total over 60 per cent. of the home civil service will be under delegated arrangements by July 1994.
It is clear that there is scope to improve further the delivery of public services by extending the pay delegation initiative. I have therefore invited all remaining executive agencies employing over 500 staff, together with the larger agency candidates, to put forward proposals for taking on pay delegation by 1 April 1995, where this is appropriate to their business needs.
Staff in post1 Agricultural Development and Advisory Service 2,320 HM Customs and Excise 25,170 Defence Research Agency 9,510 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency 4,160 Driving Standards Agency 1,780 Employment Service 44,250 Fire Service College 280 Forensic Science Service 630 Health and Safety Executive 4,480 HM Prison Service 38,100 Her Majesty's Stationery Office 2,950 Inland Revenue 59,780 HM Land Registry 8,970 Meteorological Office 2,480 Ordnance Survey 2,220 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre 70 Royal Mint 960 Scottish Prison Service 4,610 Social Security Benefits Agency 64,880 Social Security Contributions Agency 9,790 Social Security Information Technology Services Agency 4,220 Valuation Office Agency 4,930 Vehicle Inspectorate 1,660 298,200 55 per cent. of Total in home civil service 546,340 Source: HM Treasury Quarterly Staff in Post Summary.
1As at 1 October 1993. Figures give Full Time Equivalents, with 34W part-timers working for more than 10 hours counted as half-units. Casuals are excluded from the staffing count. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10—this includes totals, rounded after calculation.