HC Deb 24 July 1997 vol 298 cc712-3W
Ms Lawrence

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what performance targets have been set for National Savings for 1997–98. [10808]

Mrs Liddell

National Savings has as its declared objectives: to manage the retail component of the national debt portfolio so as to minimise the combined cost and risk of the total stock of debt and to meet funding needs cost-effectively; to promote Government savings policies in so far as is consistent with the above, and where it is not consistent to make any subsidy visible to Ministers; and to compete in the retail savings sector in a commercial manner without distorting the market. During 1997–98 National Savings will be set the following challenging targets:

  1. (i) To work within the terms of the Funding Remit1 for 1997–98;
  2. (ii) To manage National Savings so as to deliver its aims within the resources allocated by Parliament;
  3. (iii) To develop agreed measures with the Treasury for tracking value creation by 31 December 1997;
  4. (iv) To introduce improved systems and investigate past problems to meet the recommendations in the National Audit Office report on Financial Accounting (HC 9 96/97) by 31 December 1997;
  5. (v) To improve efficiency by 3 per cent. in 1997–98;
  6. (vi) To reorganise the Agency with the aim of segmenting purchasing and internal service provision and to develop value for money options for public/private sector partnerships in service delivery;
  7. (vii) To achieve a 97 per cent. outturn against all National Savings published timeliness targets;
  8. (viii) To achieve an overall accuracy level of 97 per cent. on those transaction processes that most affect customers (purchases and repayments);
  9. (ix) To show 95 per cent. of customers surveyed are satisfied or very satisfied with the service received from National Savings;
  10. (x) To maintain the Investors in People accreditation covering at least 95 per cent. of National Savings' workforce.
1 The funding remit sets out the costs and volume assumption that National SAvings works to. It was published in the Debt Management Report issued in March 1997.