HC Deb 07 February 2001 vol 362 cc542-4W
Mr. Kilfoyle

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office who sets performance targets for permanent secretaries. [145189]

Mr. Stringer

Performance targets for permanent secretaries are agreed with Ministers in charge of Departments, following comments by the Prime Minister and the head of the Home Civil Service. They incorporate targets in the Department's Public Service Agreement and Service Delivery Agreement.

Mr. Kilfoyle

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office who is responsible for assessing whether a permanent secretary has met his or her performance targets; and how many have failed to do so since 1997. [145188]

Mr. Stringer

Responsibility for assessing the performance and pay of permanent secretaries rests with the Permanent Secretaries' Remuneration Committee, which considers a range of evidence including published information, an assessment by the head of the Home Civil Service and the permanent secretary to the Treasury, ministerial views and a self-assessment by the individual.

Permanent secretaries' performance targets cover a range of departmental and personal objectives, not always entirely within the control of the individual and not always capable of being expressed simply in terms of success or failure. The degree to which each individual has performed well against his or her objectives is assessed by the Remuneration Committee. It is not Government policy to divulge information that would reveal details of the performance of individuals, as this would be a breach of confidentiality and hence contrary to the Data Protection Act 1988.

Regional distribution of staff at 1 April 1999 by Government office region
1Full-time equivalents
Government office regions
Department (including agencies) London South East London Total London and South East South West West Midland North West North East Merseyside
Non-industrial staff
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 2,943 977 3,920 1,256 638 797 444 3
Cabinet Office 1,353 271 1,624 15 18 181 17 1
Crown Prosecution Service 1,311 514 1,825 338 534 649 240 201
Customs and Excise 5,553 3,725 9,278 954 1,011 1,548 530 1,061
Culture, Media and Sport 581 0 581 0 0 0 0 0
Defence 8,503 17,238 25,741 18,899 5,135 1,034 263 777
Education and Employment 7,122 2,140 9,262 2,247 2,529 4,200 2,425 95
Environment, Transport and Regions 3,846 1,340 5,186 1,699 990 1,064 244 75
Health and Safety Executive/Commission 681 154 835 73 165 137 0 1,225
Foreign and Commonwealth Office 4,641 0 4,641 0 0 0 0 0
Health 2,267 252 2,519 125 234 605 119 14
HM Land Registry 778 506 1,284 1,528 619 1,167 0 486
Home Office 5,804 1,077 6,881 212 625 377 65 717
HM Prison Service 4,561 6,164 10,725 2,560 3,292 3,770 2,712 716
Inland Revenue 8,419 6,290 14,709 3,906 3,956 5,497 6,938 2,797
International Development 689 0 689 0 0 0 0 0
Intervention Board 0 933 933 0 0 0 262 0
Lord Chancellor's Department 5,391 1,113 6,504 358 665 688 97 323
National Statistics 780 676 1,456 0 0 117 0 545
Ordnance Survey 12 1,438 1,450 60 51 41 18 11
Registers of Scotland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Scottish Office 26 0 26 0 0 0 0 0
Scottish Prison Service 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Social Security 8,946 5,520 14,466 5,002 6,449 16,352 9,324 3,565
Trade and Industry 4,513 260 4,773 235 415 241 213 85
Treasury 890 0 890 0 0 0 0 0
Welsh Office 17 0 17 0 0 0 0 0