§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Solicitor-General(a) how many and (b) what grades of officials are responsible for the monitoring of progress towards the public service agreement targets of the Department. [109461]
§ The Solicitor-General[holding reply answer 28 April 2003]In relation to the departments for which the Attorney General holds ministerial responsibility, the answer is as follows.
134WCrown Prosecution Service
The public service agreement (PSA) targets for the criminal justice system are overarching measures. They apply to all criminal justice agencies working together in the 42 local criminal justice boards. Delivery against the targets and local monitoring of progress towards them are the responsibilities of a wide range of managers at both a local and national level, some within the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and some working for other agencies. Their grades vary according to their respective range and level of responsibility. These diverse arrangements cannot be readily summarised, nor is any central record held of the numbers and grades of those involved.
A new Directorate within CPS Headquarters, the Business Development Directorate (BDD), established in April 2003, has national responsibility for the Service"s response to the PSA targets. Its role includes ownership of the business processes and co-ordination of the programme of change and reform needed to support service delivery. It also provides policy and guidance on planning and performance management, together with the provision and analysis of the management information which measures and accounts for our steps towards PSA goals. None of the staff within the BDD works exclusively on monitoring PSA targets: all have other responsibilities related to supporting the 42 CPS areas in realising the Service"s demanding reform programme.
BDD is headed by a business development director and, within his overall command, the management of performance falls to the head of resources and performance. Both posts are filled at senior civil service level. Performance information is handled within the Internal Resources and Performance Branch, headed at grade D level, by one level B3 and one level B2, both of whom also have other responsibilities.
Serious Fraud Office
The Serious Fraud Office does not have a public service agreement. Instead, it has a service delivery agreement which contains targets on the total number of cases undertaken and the time taken to complete those cases. Responsibility for monitoring progress against these targets rests with the Director the Serious Fraud Office.
Treasury Solicitor"s Department
Progress towards the public service agreement targets is monitored quarterly by the Executive and Supervisory Boards of the Treasury Solicitor"s Department.
The Executive Board comprises six Senior Civil Servants; the Supervisory Board comprises 19 Senior Civil Servants, including the Treasury Solicitor.
HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate
HMCPSI does not have direct responsibility for delivering any PSA targets. However, its activities have close links to all three key PSA targets for the criminal justice system (i.e. Narrowing the Justice Gap, increasing public confidence and increasing value for money). The HMCPSI Business Plan links all activities to one or more PSA targets. However, it does not have any officials directly involved in monitoring progress.
135WA number of HM inspectors employed by HMCPSI comment on the progress of CPS performance towards PSA targets. However that work is integrated to their ordinary duties and cannot be separately costed.