§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what(a) discussions his Department has held with the Treasury and (b) sanctions have been imposed on his Department in respect of his Department's performance in meeting targets set for its predecessor departments in public service agreements dating from (i) 1998 and (ii) 2000; and if he will make a statement. [88054]
§ Mr. McCartney[holding answer 19 December 2002]: The Department has regular and ongoing discussions with the Treasury on its public service agreement targets and continues to make good progress towards meeting them, as reported in its Departmental Report for 2002 (Cm 5424), and in its Autumn Performance Report (Cm 5660). Therefore no sanctions have been imposed in respect of performance against any of my Department's or its predecessor's departmental targets.