§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 18 MayOfficial Report, column 373, if he will list any previous examples of financial management policy reviews not being completed; if he will list the civil service guidelines for the carrying out of financial management policy reviews with specific respect to their non-completion; if he will list the principal reasons for non-completion; what proposals he has for strengthening the guidelines for the conduct of such reviews with regard to aborted reviews and the procedure for dealing with them; and if he will make a statement. [27012]
§ Mr. Redwood[holding answer 6 June 1995]: General guidance on the conduct and coverage of financial management policy reviews is contained in "Non—Departmental Public Bodies. A Guide for Departments", a copy of which is in the Library of the House. The guidance states that all reviews should be conducted in two distinct stages. Only after agreement has been reached on the recommendations of the first stage—the prior options review—will a review proceed to a second stage.
As I announced in response to the question by my right hon. Friend the Member for Conwy (Sir W. Roberts) on 3 November 1994, Official Report, column 1329, the prior options review of the Countryside Council for Wales indicated that there could be scope for elected bodies to play an increased role in the delivery of certain of the council's functions. The second stage of the financial management policy review was therefore overtaken by a review of the council's functions.