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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 6 February 1995
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Civil Service
Mr. Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will reassess the performance criteria of permanent, deputy and under secretaries within the civil service.
Mr. David Hunt: No. My Department completed work to identify the core criteria for grades 1 to 3 in March 1994. A new annual performance review system for grades 2 and 3 was introduced from 1 January 1995 which included assessment against these criteria. The arrangements proposed for determining permanent secretaries' pay will also involve a system of formal annual appraisal.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will consider introducing policy target agreements and individual fixed term contracts for permanent, deputy and under secretaries within the civil service.
Mr. David Hunt: Senior managers in executive agencies work within the framework of the key targets set out in the organisation's framework document, while in core departments, senior managers work within the framework of policy objectives set out in each Department's published annual report.
In the Command Paper, "The Civil Service: Taking Forward Continuity and Change" (CM 2748), the Government stated that they would proceed with the introduction of written contracts of employment for members of the new senior civil service. The Government do not favour using fixed term contracts generally for senior civil servants, a view which is shared by the Treasury and Civil Service Select Committee in its report, "Role of the Civil Service".
Performance Criteria
Mr. Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps are being taken to clarify performance criteria and establish a clear division of responsibility between Ministers and their officials.
Mr. David Hunt: Framework documents for executive agencies and organisations working on next steps lines describe the division of responsibilities between Ministers and officials. Taken together with an agency's corporate and business plans they also set out the indicators and targets used to assess performance. Sixty-two per cent. of the home civil service work in agencies and the executive structures of the two Revenue departments. Another 17 per cent. are in functions identified as definite or possible agency candidates. In core departments, published annual reports already set out departmental aims, objectives and achievements against previous plans or targets. "The Civil Service:
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Taking Forward Continuity and Change" (Cm 2748) builds on the arrangements already in place in sets out the Government's view that there should be an increasing emphasis on extending, throughout the civil service, many of the principles of next steps, including maximum clarity about objectives and targets.Ministry of Justice
Mr. Booth: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the grounds for rejecting proposals for a Ministry of Justice.
Mr. David Hunt: The Government consider that existing arrangements continue to be effective.
A variety of proposals for a Ministry of Justice have been made, but the Government are not convinced that any of them have made a case for the significant and complex constitutional change which would be involved.
Public Bodies
Mr. Simon Coombs: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many non-departmental public bodies are currently in existence; and when the annual list of such bodies will be published.
Mr. Robert G. Hughes: On 1 April 1994 there were 1,345 non- departmental public bodies--a fall of 44 since 1993. Since 1979, the number of non-departmental public bodies has been reduced by 38 per cent. from 2,167. Details can be found in "Public Bodies 1994" published today. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House.
Committee on Standards in Public Life
Sir Giles Shaw: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will place in the Library a copy of the evidence he has submitted to the Committee on Standards in Public Life; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt: A copy of my evidence has been placed in the Library of the House.
The Government are committed to the principle that selection for public appointments should be made on merit by the well-informed choice of individuals who through their qualifications, experience and qualities match the needs of the public body and the post in question. The arrangements in place and the reforms already introduced by a range of Departments are all designed to emphasise, against a background of many different kinds of appointments, this overriding principle. It was, however, a concern that central guidance to Departments should be clearer and firmer on these issues that led the Prime Minister last May to request a review of the guidance on these matters.
That review has now been completed by the Cabinet Office public appointments unit and I have submitted a copy of its report to the committee. The "Review of Guidance on Public Appointments" explains the varied nature of public appointments, the majority of them unpaid; describes a number of the initiatives which are being taken by Departments to improve procedures; and recommends ways in which best practice can be extended. The main focus of improvements is on greater openness about, for example, who holds posts and how people can apply for them, including the greater use of advertising. It also concentrates on arrangements to demonstrate probity; on sustained measures to promote equal
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opportunities; and on reflecting citizens charter principles for accountability and responsiveness.The Government have accepted the recommendations of the review and I have asked that work be set in hand straight away to implement the review as we revise the central guidance. I have asked the committee for its views on the review and the new central guidance will be issued as soon as the Government have been able to consider its comments.
Although I did not wish to anticipate or pre-judge the committee's deliberations on issues of conduct and propriety, I have provided in my evidence an overview of Government public service reforms as they apply to public bodies; and emphasised the high standards of impartiality, objectivity and financial integrity, including through codes of conduct for board members in public bodies and the national health service.
The committee has written separately to the Cabinet Secretary about gifts and hospitality for Ministers and the rules which govern the employment of officials when they leave the civil service, and he has replied. I have also placed a copy of this correspondence in the Library of the House.
I am making my evidence and the committee's correspondence with Sir Robin Butler generally available to interested parties.
Research Councils
Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the amount of Government assistance granted to research councils for each year since 1986; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robert G. Hughes: Government grant-in-aid to the research councils from the science budget since 1986 87 was as follows:
£ million
|AFRC |ESRC |MRC |NERC |SERC
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1986-87 |57.1 |23.8 |128.3|70.3 |316.2
1987-88 |54.9 |24.8 |139.8|73.3 |357.5
1988-89 |61.1 |27.0 |149.6|91.9 |367.6
1989-90 |74.3 |31.5 |176.3|115.0|406.2
1990-91 |88.4 |36.6 |185.7|135.2|440.8
1991-92 |96.6 |35.6 |202.9|122.6|456.4
1992-93 |105.4|45.9 |227.6|129.7|523.0
1993-94 |109.4|53.2 |262.7|140.3|583.5
Estimated outturn in 1994 95 is as follows: