HC Deb 10 April 2002 vol 383 cc60-1W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of whether the target to release £790 million from overseas estate rationalisation for new investment over the three years to March will be met. [47790]

Mr. MacShane

We await final figures, but believe that the £90 million estate sales target for the triennium FY 1999–2000 to FY 2001–02 will have been achieved.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of whether the target of 25 per cent. of business undertaken electronically by 2002 will be met. [47789]

Mr. MacShane

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 December 2001,Official Report,column 44W.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what new initiatives his Department has taken in 2001–02 to assist in achieving its Public Service Agreement targets. [47181]

Mr. MacShane

Information on progress on PSA targets will be published in the Department's 2002 departmental report.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of whether the target to halve accommodation running costs in London by 2001–02 will be met. [47784]

Mr. MacShane

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 December 2001,Official Report,column 46W.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of whether the target of efficiency gains of £7 million by the end of 2001–02 will be met. [47783]

Mr. MacShane

I am unable to confirm the exact figure for efficiency savings before our accounts for 2001–02 are finalised later in the year. Our present assessment continues to show that we are on target to achieve efficiency gains of approximately million.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of whether the target of £12 million savings by 2001–02 through improved procurement procedures will be met. [47785]

Mr. MacShane

Savings of £10.3 million had been achieved by 31 December 2001.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of performance against the target of full cost recovery by the Government Hospitality Fund. [47786]

Mr. MacShane

The Government Hospitality Fund has been dissolved and the equivalent budget is now held by Conference and Visits Group (CVG), a new business unit that forms part of FCO Services. Full cost recovery in this area is likely to be achieved during the 2002–03 financial year.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the target of 60 per cent. on internal departmental services to be reviewed under Better Quality Services guidelines by the end of 2001–02 will be met. [47787]

Mr. MacShane

The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster informed Departments on 6 February that he had decided to discontinue the Better Quality Services (BQS) scheme.

Three BQS reviews originally scheduled to be completed by the end of March 2002 are still in progress: Security, Consular Services and Training. These will continue and are all expected to be completed this summer. The reviews of Security and Consular Services were both seriously delayed by the events of 11 September and their aftermath.

The FCO is currently considering how best to conduct internal reviews of effectiveness in future, to provide assurance that high standards of performance, particularly in areas of customer focus and service delivery are achieved and maintained.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the level of sickness absence in 2000–01; and if he expects the target of a 30 per cent. reduction by 2003 to be met. [47788]

Mr. Bradshaw

FCO staff took an average of 5.9 days of sickness absence in 2000–01. Early indications are that we are on course to meet the target of a 30 per cent. reduction by 2003.

Forward to