Department of the Environment (Hansard, 26 March 1996)

§ Mr. Moss

I am pleased to announce that six new agencies will be established within the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland with effect from 1 April 1996.

The Construction Service will be responsible for the provision of good quality and cost-effective professional design, maintenance and advisory services to Government Departments, agencies and other public bodies on construc0tion-related matters. The following targets have been set for the agency for 1996–97:

To achieve 3 per cent. efficiency gains on running costs expenditure.
To maintain expenditure within cash limits and to approved budget plans.
To achieve an 85 per cent. positive response in customer assessments of agency performance against service level agreements.
To place 75 per cent. of orders within seven days of receipt of customer requests in the maintenance and supplies business areas.
To achieve an 85 per cent. positive response in customer assessments in project evaluation reports.
To respond to 75 per cent. of customer advisory inquiries within six weeks and 100 per cent. within 10 weeks.
To ensure that overhead costs as a percentage of chargeable time value does not exceed 120 per cent.
To ensure that staff time charged to customers is not less than 72 per cent. of total staff time.
To recover the full cost of agency operations from customers.
To ensure that actual costs as a percentage of approved target costs in project work does not exceed 105 per cent.
To ensure that staff costs as a percentage of construction spend in the maintenance and supplies business areas does not exceed 18 per cent.

The Environment and Heritage Service will be responsible for implementation of the Government's environmental strategy and policies in Northern Ireland. Its main activities include the control of air, water and land pollution, the management of sites of nature conservation value, country parks, countryside centres and historic monuments and the protection and recording of historic monuments and buildings. The following targets have been set for the agency for 1996–97.

To achieve 3 per cent. efficiency gains on running costs expenditure.
To maintain expenditure within cash limits and to approved budget plans.
To prepare effluent standards for 140 Water Service sewage treatment works with a current estimated population fo over 21,000 and place on a public register.
To arrange an independent audit of 10 municipal waste landfill sites and produce recommendations for compliance with new controls.
To submit proposals for the designation of four special protection areas under the EC birds directive and declare 25 areas of special scientific interest.
To bring the basic habitat survey up to 80 per cent. completion by area.
To schedule 60 historic monuments to bring the total to 1,225.
To develop and produce 48 new information/education products.
To provide a round-the-clock response service for all water pollution incidents reported to the agency and commence investigation of such incidents within 24 hours.
To respond to 90 per cent of written inquiries or requests for information within 15 working days.
To issue 80 per cent. of licences, registrations, authorisations and consents within the time scale quoted in customer service guides.
To develop unit cost measures for appropriate activities.

The Planning Service will be responsible for the operation of the planning system and will plan and manage development in ways which contribute to a quality environment. The following targets have been set for the agency for 1996–97:

To achieve 3 per cent. efficiency gains on running costs expenditure.
To maintain expenditure within cash limits and to approved budget plans.
To complete a strategic planning review of the Belfast sub-region and present Findings by 31 March 1997.

To adopt the following plans and studies by 31 March 1997:

Larne area plan;
Fermanagh area plan;
Derry area plan;
Belfast Urban area housing review;
North-east area plan alteration;
Armagh countryside proposals.

To deliver an agreed programme in support of urban affairs projects.

To establish a measure of customer satisfaction.
To take 75 per cent. of minor planning applications to district councils within eight weeks and 95 per cent. within 17 weeks.
To take 60 per cent. of major planning applications to district councils within eight weeks and 90 per cent. within 17 weeks.
To issue 45 per cent. of planning decisions within seven days of final district council consultation and 75 per cent. within 28 days.
To reduce the proportion of invalid planning applications received by 10 per cent.
To issue responses to 90 per cent. of property inquiries within 10 working days.
To establish accurate unit cost measures by 31 March 1997.
To recover 83 per cent. of the costs of determining planning applications.
To maintain full recovery of the costs of responding to property inquiries.

The Roads Service will be responsible for ensuring that the public network is managed, maintained, developed and improved; that appropriate road safety and traffic management measures are implemented; and that street lighting and public car parks are provided, operated and maintained. The following targets have been set for the agency for 1996–97:

To achieve 2 per cent. efficiency gains on running costs expenditure.
To maintain expenditure within cash limits and to approved budget plans.
To maintain the motorway network so that the proportion with a residual life of more than five years exceeds 85 per cent.
To maintain the regional route network so that the proportion with a residual life of more than five years exceeds 75 per cent.
To maintain the condition of other roads so that the overall road condition index does not exceed 70, plus or minus the 90 per cent. confidence limits.
To develop a new system to assess the extent of, and the trends in, structural maintenance priorities. System to be developed and tested by end March 1997.
To reduce the total number of injury accidents occurring at all treated sites in the three years prior to remedial works by 40 per cent. over the three years following the works.
To conduct a customer care survey, establish base line customer operations for future surveys and identify areas for improvement by September 1996.
To achieve consistently the key standards of service set out in the road user's charter statement.
To reduce the unit cost—£/km—of managing the road system, including all client activity associated with forward planning and structural, routine and winter maintenance, by 1.5 per cent. in real terms, compared with the 1995–96 outturn figure.
To reduce the ration of full input costs of contract design, management and supervision, to total contract payments by 2 per cent. compared with the 1995–96 outturn figure. Cumulative payments made in respect of contracts, excluding fee and term contracts, to be within 5 per cent. of total tender value.
To reduce the full cost of professional, advisory and other services to external customers by 2 per cent., in real terms, compared with the 1995–96 outturn figure.

The Water Service will be responsible for the supply and distribution of water in Northern Ireland, and for the collection and treatment of domestic sewage, surface water and trade effluent. The targets set for the agency in 1996–97 are as follows:

To achieve 3 per cent. efficiency gains on running costs expenditure.
To maintain expenditure within cash limits and to approved budget plans.
To achieve 98 per cent. compliance with drinking water standards set in the Water Quality Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994.
To achieve 67 per cent. compliance with the sewage treatment works discharge standards.
To ensure that fewer than 1 per cent of properties experience unplanned interruptions to water supplies lasting more than 12 hours.
To issue substantive replies to 85 per cent. of written complaints within 15 working days of receipt.
To deliver water at a unit cost of 54p per cubic metre.
To treat sewage at a unit cost of 50p per cubic metre.

The Land Registers of Northern Ireland will be responsible for administering the land registry, the registry of deeds and the statutory charges registry. The main functions of the agency will be guaranteeing title to registered land, supplying accurate land information and providing a forum for the resolution of disputes regarding registered land. The following performance targets have been set for the agency for 1996–97:

To process applications for registration at the following rates per member of staff per month: land registry, 16.8; registry of deeds, 254; and statutory charges registry, 43.
To achieve the following average turnaround, in working days, for regular applications for registration: land registry, 20; registry of deeds three; and statutory charges registry, 15.
To achieve an average turnaround time of 10 working days for pre-completion land information services.
To achieve unit costs of £46.50 for agency registrations and £6 for agency pre-completion services.
To maintain expenditure within cash limits and to approved budget plans.
To increase overall productivity by at least 3 per cent.
To cover the agency's costs of its fee income.
To ensure that the number of customer complaints does not exceed Two per cent. of the number of applications received.
To achieve an accuracy rate of at least 98 per cent. in processing applications for registration.

I am confident that the new status as next steps agencies will lead to a significant and sustained improvement in the delivery of these important public services. I am delegating full managerial authority for day-to-day operations to the chief executive of each agency. The policy and resources framework for the new agencies is set out in their framework documents, and I shall arrange for copies of each to be placed in the Library of the House.