HC Deb 08 March 2000 vol 345 cc706-7W
Mr. Menzies Campbell

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list(a) those targets of the Defence Bills Agency for 1998–99 which (i) were and (ii) were not achieved, giving the factors affecting the outcome in each case and (b) action taken by the agency to improve target achievement performance in 1999–2000; and if he will make a statement. [111730]

Dr. Moonie

This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Bills Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the right hon. and learned Member.

Letter from I. S. Elrick to Mr. Menzies Campbell, dated 6 March 2000: I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence concerning performance against the targets set for the Defence Bills Agency, as this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Agency. The seven targets set for the Defence Bills Agency for 1998/99 are detailed below and performance was set out in the Agency's 1998/99 Annual Report and Accounts, a copy of which was placed in the library of the House on 13 July 1999. The first six were achieved in full but the seventh only attained 95.7% against a target of 100%.

  1. 1. To pay 97% of correctly presented bills within 11 working days;
  2. 2. To pay 100% of correctly presented bills within 30 calendar days;
  3. 3. To raise 100% of invoices within 5 working days;
  4. 4. To deliver services within the agreed price of £15.587 million for the financial year;
  5. 5. To increase the average number of bills processed annually by each member of staff to 6,555;
  6. 6. To ensure CAPITAL compliance by 1 January 1999.
  7. 7. To meet the criteria contracted for in the Service Level Agreement.
Performance against this final target was affected by the need, in order to meet higher priorities, to divert Agency resources from the fifteen lower-level performance indicators which are aggregated into a single target. The most significant of these higher priorities was the need to alter the Agency's business processes to accommodate the Statutory Interest on Commercial Debt (Interest) Act in November 1998. The Agency also diverted resources to assist the Department in its development of resource accounting and to undertake preparatory work on the Agency's extensive computer resources to ensure millennium compliance. In addition the Agency assimilated a 6% increase in bill throughput numbers compared to the previous financial year, processing some 3.7 million bills in total. To improve performance in 1999/2000 the Agency's targets were redefined following a triennial Prior Options review. This moved the main emphasis of the Agency's targets to the improvement of unit costs which could be independently benchmarked against commercial comparators. There was also a significant tightening of the targets in other areas. The Agency has responded to these changed circumstances by preparing a Corporate Plan which is designed to achieve these new and demanding challenges. The main thrusts of the Plan are: (i) greater commitment to E-commerce in both internal and external communications; (ii) the more effective utilisation of Information Technology in business processes; and (iii) the use of European Quality Foundation Excellence Model benchmarking techniques to ensure that best practice is used throughout the Agency. The deliberately challenging new targets are not being met fully in this first year of the new Service Level Agreement. However, significant progress towards meeting the overarching outcomes contained in the Service Level Agreement has been achieved during 1999–2000 and measures have been taken to ensure that performance will be improved further during 2000–2001. Whilst some of the key targets are not being met in the current year, bill payments performance is still the highest to date in real terms and puts the Agency in the top 10% of large commercial and public sector enterprises in Europe, as measured in independent benchmarking exercises.