§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans he has to review the "Competing for Quality" initiative. [18695]
§ Mr. David HuntThe Government confirmed in the Command Paper "Taking Forward Continuity and980W Change" in January their intention to conduct such a review. From the results reported by Departments I believe that the initiative has already achieved significant efficiency improvements in public services while maintaining or improving quality. In seeking further improvements in value for money, it is important that we learn from the full range of experience gained in the last three years, and from both public and private sector participants in the programme. I have today commissioned the review to ensure that, in developing their future strategies for improving value for money, Departments and agencies can apply these techniques where they are most effective.
The review will be run along the lines of a multi-departmental scrutiny by a team drawn from a range of Government Departments and the private sector; it will commence on 24 April 1995, and will report in the autumn. The review will focus on the main change associated with the initiative: the development of a large programme of market testing and contracting out in central Government. The team will scrutinise the results of the programme, analysing the experience gained in the application and management of the process to identify how far the objectives of the initiative have been achieved and how the techniques of market testing and contracting out should best be developed for the future.
The full terms of reference are as follows:
- Terms of Reference:
- To evaluate the Government's competing for quality initiative—market testing and contracting out—as a means of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public services.
- In particular, to identify to what extent, through the introduction of competition, Government have been able to:
- —Obtain better value for taxpayers' money in the provision of public services;
- —Deliver quality of service within Government and to users of public services;
- —Provide users of public services with a wider variety of facilities and services;
- —Enable managers to concentrate on their core activities;
- —Generate innovative ways of providing public services;
- —Enable staff to operate at higher levels of performance and with a greater sense of job satisfaction;
- —Encourage the identification of new opportunities for private sector involvement in the delivery of public services.
The study will also examine the methods by which the initiative has been managed and implemented within Government and communicated to other interested parties in order to identify those factors which have affected the extent to which the various objectives of the initiative have been achieved.