Next Steps Agencies (Hansard, 27 January 1995)

§ Mr. Freeman

These are matters for the chief executives of my Department's executive agencies. I have therefore asked them to reply.

Letter from Mike Dymond to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 26 January 1995:

1. As part of his co-ordinated reply to your question concerning the operation and costs of Next Steps Agencies, Minister of State (DP) has asked me to provide you with the details for the Defence Accounts Agency.
2. The Agency was launched under the title of its predecessor organisation (Director General Defence Accounts) on 1 April 1991 and was restyled the Defence Accounts Agency on 1 July 1993.
3. We occupy the same buildings as we did before becoming an Agency. No new buildings have been acquired.
4. Staff numbers have been reduced steadily since the Agency's launch, from 2,184 on 1 April 1991 to an expected 1,808 on 31 March 1995. No additional staff have been required as a result of agency status.
5. We continue to publish a monthly staff newsletter (Snapshot) which was originally introduced by the Director General Defence Accounts in September 1989 as a means of improving communication within the organisation.
6. The Agency has no executive cars.
7. The badge which we use as our logo is an amended version of that granted by the College of Heralds to the Director General Defence Accounts in 1980. The amendment, to reflect the Agency's change of title in July 1993, was made at a cost of £500.
8. The Agency has no corporate clothing.
9. The Agency does have a small stock of its own letterheaded paper. The letterhead was designed in-house; the cost of printing was £2,016.

Letter from Paul Altobell to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 23 January 1995: PO NO. 5744G Dated 20 January 1995 Minister of State (DP) has asked me to reply to your question about Next Steps Agencies and how this relates to my Agency. Taking the individual parts of your question in the order put to me: DASA has not acquired its own headquarters building. No additional support staff were employed since becoming an Agency. All work associated with our status was absorbed by 434W existing staff at a time when DASA was reducing its staff numbers by 10%. DASA publishes an Annual Report and Accounts. The main cost of this has been borne centrally by MoD. We estimate this cost to be about £15,000. We have no fleet cars. DASA's logo was designed and produced by our own staff at negligible cost. We have no corporate clothing. Since becoming an Agency in 1992 we have spent a total £3,028 on corporate stationery.

Letter from A. C. Sleigh to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 23 January 1995: The Secretary of State for Defence has asked me to reply to your question on perquisites and other expenditure by Next Steps Agencies. This Agency has not acquired any additional land or buildings since it was launched as an Agency on 1 July 1992. The number of support staff has reduced by 14 since that date. The fleet of passenger vehicles has been reduced from 5 to 1, the annual operating cost being approximately £11,000. The design cost of the Agency logo was £2,000 and the cost of corporate stationery is £1.20 per 1000 sheets of paper. This Agency does not publish periodical journals, neither does it have corporate clothing.

Letter from Keith Ellender to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 25 January 1995: I have been asked to reply to your written question to the Secretary of State for Defence on additional costs incurred, as they affect my Agency. I can tell you that:-

a: No of HQ building has been acquired;
b. No additional support staff have been required;
c. No periodical journals are published;
d. No cars have been acquired;
e. No special logo has been designed;
f. No corporate clothing has been acquired;
g. No specially designed and printed corporate stationery has been purchased. New stationery to reflect the change of status was ordered through Ministry of Defence, Common Service channel, at negligible cost.

Letter from J. R. Drew to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 27 January 1995: I am responding as Chief Executive of the Army Base Repair Organisation (ABRO) to your Parliamentary Question about Next Steps Defence agencies. ABRO was launched on 1 April 1993 and consists of 9 workshops and 11 contract repair offices in various locations around the United Kingdom with a Headquarters in Andover, Hampshire. The Headquarters occupies exactly the same MOD building as the organisation which preceded it—Command Army Static Workshops. The increased delegations afforded to the Agency have necessitated an increase in support staff of 22.5 since launch date. In 1994 the Agency published its first Annual Report and Accounts at a cost of £33,746 inc. VAT. The Corporate Plan for 1994 was also published at a cost of £22,105 inc. VAT. These were given wide public and parliamentary distribution and copies are enclosed for you. ABRO has no fleet of executive cars. As Chief Executive I retain the use of the Army MT pool car for official business to which I was earlier entitled. This vehicle is also available to the rest of the Headquarters staff and is used extensively by them. Most of the 435W satellite workshops also have a car available but, again, it is used in a "pool" role rather than as dedicated Executive Car. ABRO does have its own logo which was designed in-house prior to launch, at no additional cost. There is no corporate clothing currently in use within the Agency. However the Defence Clothing and Textiles Agency (DCTA) have undertaken to supply overalls for our workforce which will incorporate the ABRO logo on the back. This will be in place of the Army coveralls currently supplied by DCTA and will involve no additional cost. ABRO still uses normal MOD channels for its day to day stationery requirements however we are currently in the process of ordering a three year supply of specially designed and printed business cards for about 100 of our Headquarters staff at a cost of some £1400. We have many dealings with private companies and contractors for which these cards will prove invaluable.

Letter from Richard Kirby to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 24 January 1995:

PQ ON NEXT STEPS AGENCIES Your Ordinary Written question, tabled in Parliament on Thursday 19 January, sought specific information concerning the operation and expenditure of agencies. I am responding as the Chief Executive of the Defence Clothing & Textile Agency—a Tri Service organisation which was granted Defence Agency status on 22 November 1994. For ease of reference, I have tabled my responses in the attached Annex and I trust they meet with your requirements.

Annex: A. Questions and Responses to the PQ.

Questions and responses to the PQ from the Hon. G. Kaufman MP which relate to the defence clothing and textiles agency (DCTA)

1. Q: Have they acquired their own headquarters buildings and, if so, at what purchase cost or annual rent?

A: No acquisition has been made. Continuing use is being made of existing service facilities.

2. Q: How many support staff they have acquired which were not required when their operations were within his Department?

A: None, staff numbers are reducing in accordance with Defence Cost Studies and efficiency programmes.

3. Q: How many of them published periodical journals and at what annual cost?

A: None that are new—existing Corporate and Business plans are available and will continue to be produced.

4. Q: How many have fleets of executive cars or single executive cars and at what annual cost?

A: None that are special. Ministry of Defence Central Motor Transport services are used where appropriate.

5. Q: How many have specially designed logos and at what cost?

A: One DCTA logo, as depicted on my covering letter with no cash expenditure as it was designed in-house.

6. Q: How many have corporate clothing and at what cost?

A: There is no discrete corporate clothing within the DCTA excepting normal service uniforms for Service personnel.

7. Q: What is the cost of specially designed and printed corporate stationery?

A: No additional costs have arisen.

Letter from Graham Pearson to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 27 January 1995:

QUESTION 27, ORDER PAPER 19 JANUARY 1995

1. Your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking if he will set out for each of the Next Steps agencies in his Department, whether they have acquired their own headquarters buildings and, if so, at what purchase cost or annual rental; how many support staff they have required which were not required when their operations were within his Department; how many of them published periodical journals and at what annual cost; how many have fleets of executive cars or single executive cars and at what annual cost; how many have specially designed logos and at what cost; how many have specially designed logos and at what 436 cost; how many have corporate clothing and at what cost; and what is the cost of specially designed and printed corporate stationery has been passed to me to answer as Chief Executive of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment at Porton Down.
2. The Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment (CBDE) became a Defence Agency on 1 April 1991 at which time the opportunity was taken to change the Establishment name from the Chemical Defence Establishment in order to fully reflect the range of work carried out. As such there was no need to change the Establishment logo apart from modifying "CDE" to "CBDE".
3. CBDE did not need to acquire additional or new headquarters buildings nor did it have to produce specially designed and printed corporate stationery. It does not have corporate clothing or a fleet of executive or single executive cars.
4. CBDE does not publish periodical journals as such but as an Executive Agency is required by the Treasury to publish an Annual Report and Accounts which is available to the public through HMSO. We also publish much of our work in scientific and technical journals.
5. Only one additional Higher Executive Officer was employed to deal with the additional delegations afforded to the Director General contained in the Framework Document.

Letter from Andrew Roach to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 23 January 1995: I have been advised of your Parliamentary Question regarding Agencies, made on 17 January and my reply is set out below. The Defence Animal Centre (DAC) is a single military unit and very few infrastructural changes have been made in order to facilitate the move to Agency status. In particular:

no additional HQ buildings have been acquired (in fact the number of buildings has reduced as a result of colocation of sites)
no additional support staff have been employed
no periodical journals have been published
I have a military staff car which is also used for other purposes and is not an "Agency extra"
the DAC logo was designed by one of my staff (at no cost)
we do not have corporate clothing other than military uniform
we do not have corporate stationary

I hope that this answers your question satisfactorily. Please contact me if you require any further information. This reply has been sent initially to the MOD Framework Team.

Letter from Tweedie M. Brown to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 25 January 1995: The Secretary of State for Defence has asked me to reply to your questions about the cost of various Defence Agency activities. In respect of the Defence Postal and Courier Services Agency the information is as follows: Purchase/Lease of HQ Buildings: None—Existing buildings retained. Support Staff: 4. But this would be offset within MOD from whom we took over the work. Periodical/Journals: None. Cars: None. Logo: Design produced in house. Reproduction costs £1,000. Clothing: Protective clothing with Corporate symbol—£1,500. Corporate Stationery: Produced in house. Cost not separately identifiable.

Letter from John Chisholm to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 25 January 1995: In today's written answer the Minister of State for Defence Procurement informed you that I would be replying to you on the operational and managerial issues regarding the Defence Research 437W Agency (DRA) as part of the overall response to your question concerning costs of Next Steps Agencies. No extra costs were incurred in providing a headquarters building when the DRA was formed as I and my staff were able to move into offices already available at our existing site at Farnborough previously occupied by the Royal Aerospace Establishment senior management which was being superseded by the Agency. Part of the change in establishing the Agency in 1991 involved amalgamating four separate establishments to form the DRA and disbanding the previous headquarters operation in London. We were able to reduce significantly the number of support staff in this process but, since we no longer have records of support from the previous establishments, I cannot give precise details. My two Managing Directors and I currently retain three cars for official business at a total annual running cost of £4,500. When not required all three vehicles are available for use by other senior staff in a pool system. The previous arrangements involved each of the four Directors of establishments having their own cars plus at least one car for the London headquarters. The DRA currently has one in-house journal, the DRA News, which has an annual printing cost of £86k. This replaced three pre DRA journals (RAE News, ARE News and RARDE News). Corporate clothing is worn by police and guards, DRA reception staff and messengers at all our sites. This is not fundamentally different from clothing worn by MOD messengers and similar staff. Costs are not held centrally and it would involve disproportionate effort to ascertain exactly what they are across the organisation. The DRA has its own logo to assist with developing and maintaining a corporate trading image which was designed as part of an in-house competition. The prize of a bottle of champagne was the only design cost involved! The DRA corporate stationery was mainly designed by our in-house staff at little extra cost and, although exact figures are not held centrally, I estimate the current annual printing cost is around £40k. Of course stationery used to be printed for all establishments separately at rather greater cost. I hope you find this information useful.

Letter from G. H. Wilson to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 25 January 1995:

The Secretary of State for Defence has asked me to reply to your PQ 5744G. HQ Building. We have occupied the same building since 1909. Support Staff. We have achieved a net reduction in staff. Journals. Our only externally published document is the annual report and accounts. For 1993/94 this was £1671. Cars. We have no executive cars. Logos. Our logo has remained substantially the same since 1892. There have been no design costs since then. Clothing. We do not have corporate clothing. The cost to the Department of school clothing has reduced since acquiring Agency status. Stationery. We have no specially designed stationery. Our letterheads which have remained unchanged for several years are produced in-house.

Letter from M. R. Pack to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 27 January 1995:

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION - PQ S744G You recently asked The Secretary of State for Defence several questions relating to Next Steps Agencies within the Ministry of Defence. I am replying on behalf of the Hydrographic Office. The Hydrographic Office occupies the same buildings that it did prior to its becoming a Defence Agency in 1990. The most recent of these buildings was built 1968–69. No additional support staff have been employed since the HO became an Agency in 1990. The Hydrographic Office does not publish a journal but in common with all Agencies is required to publish an Annual Report and Accounts. Our last report, for the financial year 1993/94, was 438W published in July 1994 and laid in the House on 21 July 1994 (HC 482). The Report and Accounts were printed in-house. The costs are estimated to be in the region of £3,300. The Hydrographic Office one car for the use of staff on official business. The full cost amounts to approximately £27,000 a year. No extra costs have been incurred on specially designed logos, corporate clothing and specially designed and printed corporate stationery.

Letter from A. W. Pollard to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 24 January 1995: I have been asked to reply to your question in the House on 17 January 1995 concerning setting up costs of Next Steps Agencies. You will be aware that the Logistic Information Systems Agency (LISA) is one of the newest within the Ministry of Defence having been launched on 21 November 1994. LISA inherits the organisation, accommodation, resources and commitments of the Directorate of Logistic Information Systems (Army) which it replaced. This resulted in a smoother transition and less upheaval to our activities and staff than can sometimes be the case (where, for example, collocation accompanies a move to agency status). Costs associated with LISA were kept to a minimum and met within current budget. Where possible, in-house resources were used in preference to contractors.

Answers to your specific questions are as follows in respect of LISA:

a. Acquisition of Headquarters Buildings. No extra buildings were required.
b. Additional Support Staff Required. LISA is committed to meeting the Options for Change and other manpower reductions to which its predecessor Directorate was working. While the Agency does call for some different skills these have generally been met by re-classifying existing posts and commencing a programme of re-training with costs being met within existing training funds.
c. Periodic Journals. I have no current plans to introduce a periodic journal. The cost of publishing the necessary Framework Document, Corporate Plan and Key Targets was £7,750.
d. Executive Cars. All executive travel is met by Departmental transport. I have no current plans for fleet or single executive cars.
e. Logo. LISA's logo appears on this letterhead. Its cost was kept to the minimum commensurate with the importance of establishing a corporate identity which our staff could share and our customers recognise. It was designed in-house by the Department's Common Services (Graphics) staff. £2,000 of civil service overtime was incurred for this and the graphic design of the documents in sub-paragraph c above. The cost was met from my budget.
f. Corporate Clothing. I have no current plans to introduce corporate clothing.
g. Corporate Stationery. Expenditure on corporate stationery is no greater than that normally required by Departments and Branches. Stocks of the predecessor Directorate's stationery were deliberately run down in anticipation of the transition to Agency status.

I hope that the above information answers your questions. Please contact me if you require any more detail.

439W

Letter from J. C. R. Hunt to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 25 January 1995: The Defence Secretary has asked me to reply in respect of the Meteorological Office to the questions you recently asked about Next Steps agencies.

In brief: the translation of the Meteorological Office to agency status did not require us to acquire a new HQ building some 22 extra staff were needed to support the changed organisation but overall staff numbers have fallen by 113 since Vesting Day no new journals have been produced. The Meteorological Office publishes only one periodical, 'Outlook', a customer magazine, at a cost of £40,000 no additional cars have been provided. I make use of a car and driver as part of RAF MT support, at an estimated cost of £24,000 the Meteorological did not change its logo when it became an agency no corporate clothing was introduced no corporate stationery was specially designed or printed; the Meteorological Office continued to use its existing logo. I hope this gives you the information you need.

Letter from M. Wilson to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 27 January 1995:

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION ON NEXT STEPS AGENCIES I am replying in respect of the Military Survey Defence Agency to your recent question reference PQ5744G on additional costs arising from our status as a Next Steps agency.

Taken in the order of your question, the answers are: a. Headquarters Building The Military Survey headquarters is accommodated in the building occupied prior to agency launch. No expenditure on land or buildings has been incurred as a result of agency status.

b. Support Staff The need to produce agency accounts has resulted in the establishment of two additional Management Accountant posts: 1 Senior Executive Officer and 1 Executive Officer with 2 supporting Administrative Officers. However, agency requirements aside, it is likely that the Management Accountancy posts would be needed in the future to support Treasury's resource accounting and budgeting initiatives.

c. Journals A quarterly publication is produced to inform staff on policy and internal developments affecting Military Survey, but not specifically in the agency context. Whilst some copies are distributed outside Military Survey, it is intended principally as a house magazine. Editorial and publication costs are as follows:

Staff: £15,200 per annum
Production: £8,800 per annum

d. Transport As a 2-star serving officer, the Director General has access to a Grade 1 staff car. This entitlement is not related to his capacity as an agency chief executive.

e. Logo Military Survey acquired its logo some 50 years ago. No money has been spent on a corporate image since agency launch.

f. Corporate Clothing None.

g. Corporate Stationery Military Survey uses standard MOD-style letter headings. No special stationery has been designed.

Please let me know if you require further information. I am copying this letter to Minister (Defence Procurement).

440W

Letter from Captain W. Graham to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 24 January 1995: The response to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Defence concerning questions on specific costings. Our responses are itemised below:

a. The NARO has not created a Headquarters building.
b. Two additional staff have duties directly attributable to Agency functions.
c. All Annual Reports and Accounts are produced at a cost of £8,000 per annum. A Corporate Plan and Framework Document were produced when the Agency was launched, at a cost of £9,000 each.
d. No executive vehicle has been acquired as a consequence of the NARO's existence.
e. The NARO logo was designed using in-house Agency resources at no additional cost.
f. A NARO logo has been added to workforce overalls at a cost of £941.
g. NARO headed stationery has replaced MOD stationery at no additional cost.

Letter from Brian Raine to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 25 January 1995:

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION I have been asked to reply to your Question on various matters concerning the Agency. Queen Victoria School has not acquired any additional headquarters buildings since the introduction of Agency status. We have recruited one full time and one part time support staff to manage additional agency responsibilities. The only periodical journal published is the annual School magazine at no cost to public funds. The school has no executive cars, specially designed logos, corporate clothing or specially designed and printed corporate stationery. I hope this answers your Questions satisfactorily, but if there is anything on which you wish me to elaborate, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Letter from R. H. Kyle to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dared 27 January 1995: You asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he would set out for each of the Next Steps Agencies in his Department, whether they have acquired their own headquarters buildings and, if so, at what purchase cost or annual rental; how many support staff they have required which were not required when their operations were within his Department; how many of them published periodical journals and at what annual cost; how many have fleets of executive cars or single executive cars and at what annual costs; how many have specially designed logos and at what cost; how many have corporate clothing and at what cost; and what is the cost of specially designed and printed corporate stationery. As Chief Executive of the RAF Maintenance Group Defence Agency, I have been asked to reply with regard to my Agency. The RAF Maintenance Group Defence Agency has not acquired a new HQ building since achieving Agency status in 1991. The Agency's Headquarters staff still occupy offices in their parent Command's Headquarters building at Headquarters Logistics Command, RAF Brampton, Cambridgeshire. However, the space the Group occupies has reduced since the Agency formed in 1991. Staff numbers were not increased as a result of adopting Agency status. Indeed, the overall number of HQ staff has been reduced significantly since launch and further reductions are planned as part of a rationalisation programme following the formation of Logistics Command. Any new posts that might be considered to exist solely because of Agency tasks and status were created by reorganising existing posts and activities. The Agency does not publish a periodic journal, but it does publish its Annual Report and Accounts. Copies of this document are used for internal and external publicity purposes, as well as to meet the statutory reporting and accounting requirements. The cost 441W to the Department for the printing of the 1993/94 Report was £12,673, including HMSO's management and handling charges. The Maintenance Group's requirement for executive cars has not been affected by Agency status. If anything, the actual requirement has decreased in line with the decrease in the number of executive staff. The Agency has not incurred any additional expense for headed stationery or specially designed logos as a result of attaining Agency status. Neither has the Agency adopted any form of corporate clothing. Since its formation as a Defence Agency, the Maintenance Group has consistently achieved its Key Management Targets. Detailed reports against these targets are contained in the Agency's Annual Report and Accounts, the latest copy of which I have enclosed with this letter.

Letter from Peter Ayee to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 24 January 1995:

NEXT STEPS AGENCYS I WRITE, AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE ROYAL Am FORCE SIGNALS ENGINEERING ESTABLISHMENT (RAFSEE), WHICH WAS LAUNCHED AS A NEXT STEPS DEFENCE AGENCY ON 22 NOVEMBER 1994, IN RESPONSE TO YOUR WRITTEN QUESTION OF 19 JANUARY 1995 TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE. RAFSEE, WHICH REMAINS PART OF THE LOGISTICS COMMAND OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE, IS BASED AT RAF HENLOW AND HAS A DETACHED GROUP AT RAF WYTON. THE AGENCY OCCUPIES THE SAME BUILDINGS THAT IT DID BEFORE LAUNCH AND HAS NOT ACQUIRED ANY ADDITIONAL STAFF, VEHICLES OR CORPORATE CLOTHING. MOREOVER, IT HAS NOT SO FAR PUBLISHED ANY JOURNALS, CREATED A LOGO OR HAD ANY STATIONERY SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED OR PRINTED FOR THE DEFENCE AGENCY.

Letter from John May to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 27 January 1995:

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION No. PQ5744G—TRAINING GROUP DEFENCE AGENCY REPLY I WRITE IN REPLY TO YOUR QUESTION OF THURSDAY 19 JANUARY, IN WHICH YOU SOUGHT INFORMATION ABOUT CONSEQUENTIAL COSTS OF NEXT STEPS AGENCIES. I AM ABLE TO TELL YOU THAT THE LAUNCH OF TRAINING GROUP DEFENCE AGENCY HAS NOT BEEN ACCOMPANIED BY UNWARRANTABLE OR UNNECESSARY EXPENDITURE IN ANY OF THE FIELDS COVERED BY YOUR QUESTION. THE AGENCY'S HEADQUARTERS DOES NOT HAVE ITS OWN BUILDING OR EXECUTIVE CARS; IT SHARES THE BUILDINGS AND POOL OF CARS ESTABLISHED FOR HEADQUARTERS ROYAL AIR FORCE PERSONNEL & TRAINING COMMAND, OF WHICH IT IS AN INTEGRAL PART. THE AGENCY HAS NOT INTRODUCED ANY CORPORATE CLOTHING OR ANY SPECIALLY DESIGNED STATIONERY AND HAS NO PLANS TO DO SO; SIMILARLY, THE AGENCY HAS NO PLANS TO ADD TO THE LIST OF JOURNALS IT HAS TRADMONALLY PUBLISHED FROM TIME TO TIME AS A ROYAL AIR FORCE GROUP. THE AGENCY HAS NOT ACQUIRED ANY SUPPORT STAFF BEYOND THE SPECIALISTS REQUIRED TO OPERATE THE MANAGEMENT AND FINANCIAL REGIME REQUIRED BY 'ME NEXT STEPS INITIATIVE; THE POSTS IN QUESTION WERE ESTABLISHED BEFORE THE AGENCY WAS VESTED ON 1 APRIL 1994. THE AGENCY SOMETIMES MAKES USE OF A SIMPLE LOGO TEAT WAS DEVELOPED IN-HOUSE AT NO EXTRA COST TO THE AGENCY'S BUDGET. THIS ARTWORK WAS REQUIRED TO IDENTIFY THE AGENCY'S CORPORATE DOCUMENTATION THAT WAS LODGED IN THE LIBRARIES OF THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT AT THE TIME OF VESTING, AND WILL SIMILARLY IDENTIFY FUTURE ANNUAL REPORTS AND ACCOUNTS. I AM COPYING THIS LETTER TO ME AGENCY'S OWNER, THE AIR OFFICER COMMANDING IN CHIEF HEADQUARTERS PERSONNEL AND TRAINING COMMAND.

Letter from Ian Mitchelson to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 27 January 1995:

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION NEXT STEPS AGENCIES Service Children's Schools (North West Europe) was formed as a Defence Agency in April 1991 within the Ministry of Defence to provide an educational service to dependent children residing with MOD personnel in North West Europe. The Agency's Headquarters 442W is collocated with among other formations Headquarters United Kingdom Support Command (Germany) and Headquarters 2 Group Royal Air Force at Rheindahlen and shares their accommodation. As part of the civilian component, which supports our Forces in Germany, the arrangements for the Agency's accommodation is covered by the Status of Forces Agreement which provides the basis for the stationing of Sending States Forces in Germany. Under this Agreement buildings are owned by the German Government and made available for use of the British Forces without charge. Therefore the Agency occupies accommodation under the same arrangements as that prior to its acquisition of Agency status. Prior to its formation, some 28 support staff (ie non-professional, non-educational staff), were employed directly in support of the provision of education to service children in Service Children's Schools (Germany), the forerunner of the Agency. These were employed at the Headquarters at Rheindahlen and in two Area Headquarters Offices. In addition, Service Children's Schools received a significant degree of support (i.e. Financial, Budgetary, Contractual, Personnel, Legal, Property Management etc) from a multitude of sources both within BAOR and more widely from the Department. The organisation also received much administrative and professional support from the Service Children's Education Authority based in the United Kingdom. On formation at the outset of FY 1991/1992, the Agency's support staff increased to 36, in direct relation to the additional responsibilities that accompanied the change in status. Corresponding and no doubt greater savings in staff will have been made by those areas of the Department that were relinquishing their duties in respect of the new Agency. In the period since the formation of the Agency, the support staff has increased in size to a current figure of 41. This has occurred partly as further responsibilities have been delegated to the Agency, but mainly in response to the demands placed upon SCS(NWE), by the need to manage the Agency's response to Drawdown, (ie, the reduction in Troop deployment in North West Europe and the consequent closure of schools). Some 40 schools have been closed over the period since September 1992. With the conclusion of the Drawdown process later this year, the Agency has planned for FY 1995/1996 a rationalisation programme, to reduce the level of its support staff. This will include, for example, the closure of the two Area Education Offices and the loss of the associated staff. Whilst plans have yet to be finalised, it is expected that the Agency's support staff will reduce in number to about 36, the number with which it was originally formed. Further efficiency improvements may well prove possible as part of the Department's and Agency's continuing drive for value for money. SCS(NWE) produce one in-house journal for the benefit of parents and staff 3 times per year. It is compiled and edited in-house and published by HMSO at an annual cost of £7000.00 pa. The Agency does not have any cars on its books at all. In order to meet travel needs for individual journeys the Agency does have access to a pool of cars operated by the Army in Germany on a self-drive basis. This arrangement also applies to the Chief Executive. The Agency does have a logo, again this was designed in-house at no additional cost. The Agency does use its logo and letterhead on paper which is produced locally alongside all the other headed stationery used by UKSC(G) and HQ 2 Gp RAF (as was the case in the pre-Agency days) at no additional cost compared to other like stationery; however a notional cost can be provided if this would be helpful. I attach an example of the headed letters in use. The Agency does not have any corporate clothing apart from discretionary ties which may be obtained by staff as a private transaction.