Valuation Office (Hansard, 23 March 1998)

§ Dawn Primarolo

I have set the following key targets for the Valuation Office in 1998–99:

to clear 275,000 appeals in aggregate against the 1995 and earlier rating lists
to clear 83,500 appeals against the council tax valuation lists; with the aim, in co-operation with the valuation tribunals, of clearing all cases within 6 months of receipt
to clear Inland Revenue cases equal to the number received up to a maximum of 57,000—with the aim of clearing 90 per cent. of cases within:
42 days where a valuation only is requested
6 months where negotiation with the parties is required

to provide a substantive reply to:
90 per cent. of correspondence within 15 working days of receipt
the remaining 10 per cent. within 20 working days of receipt
to see all callers to our offices within 5 minutes
to achieve a further improvement against our indicator for valuation accuracy—by 1 per cent. to 87 per cent.
to maintain performance against our indicator for timeliness at 98 per cent.

to break even overall after charging for the full cost of chargeable services including notional interest of 6 per cent on the average working capital
measurement will be within a tolerance of the greater of 2 per cent. of relevant turnover or £1 million
to achieve financial efficiency gains of 4.6 per cent.

Further details are contained in the Valuation Office's Forward Plan, copies of which will be placed in the Library of the House on publication.

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