HC Deb 24 July 1996 vol 282 cc471-2W
Mr. John Marshall

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in establishing the business development service of the Department of Finance and Personnel as a next steps agency. [39935]

Sir John Wheeler

The business development service of the Department of Finance and Personnel will be established as an executive agency on 1 October 1996. It will continue to be known as the business development service.

I have set a number of key performances targets for the agency to achieve by April 1997, as follows: at least 80 per cent. of customers to be satisfied with the services that they have received; at least 80 per cent. of customers to be satisfied with the way in which services were assessed and provided; an efficiency saving of 5 per cent. to be achieved in running costs over 1995–96 along with an improvement of 4 per cent. in unit costs across all services; and the agency to be positioned to recover the costs of its services of Telecommunications, Information Systems Services, Information Systems Personnel and Training, Thinklink, the Human Resource Management System, Forms Design and the Central Print Unit commencing on 1 April 1997, and to continue to develop mechanisms for charging for all other services.

Copies of the framework document which sets out the terms within which the agency will operate will be placed in the Library prior to the agency's launch along with its first corporate and business plan.