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Pay and Personnel Agency

Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what key targets have been set for the Pay and Personnel Agency for the financial year 1999-2000. [86911]

Mr. Spellar: The Chief Executive of the Pay and Personnel Agency (PPA) is responsible for providing pay and personnel information services for the Ministry of Defence as defined in the agency framework document. During 1999-2000 the PPA will be set the following challenging key performance targets:

1. To make 100 per cent. of all payments to staff by the due date (excluding late payments caused by invalid claims or late notification outside the control of the Agency).

2. To keep error rates within the following limits:

12 per 1,000 payments of weekly industrial pay

6 per 1,000 payments of monthly non-industrial pay

20 per 1,000 awards of pension

15 per 1,000 payments of expenses

3. By 31 March 2000 to implement the action plan established from the customer satisfaction survey.

4. To meet the Department's requirement for implementing agreed pay and grading changes.

5. By 31 March 2000 to complete training of 60 per cent. of all staff in leadership or change management or customer service as appropriate.

6. To achieve Agency IIP accreditation before the end of 1999.

7. To achieve full Y2K compliance of critical systems with revised contingency plans for maintaining business continuity into the next millennium.

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8. To deliver the financial and organisational objectives resulting from the PPA Efficiency Review and in doing so achieve at least a 15 per cent. reduction in operating costs compared with the 1998-99 cash allocation.

Military Survey Defence Agency

Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what Key Targets have been set for the Military Survey Defence Agency for the financial year 1999-2000. [86912]

Mr. Spellar: The role of Military Survey is to ensure the provision of geographic support to defence operations, planning and training. The Key Targets for the Agency for the 12 months from April 1999 are:

Key Target 1:

To satisfy 100 per cent. of requirements for geographic support to current operations within the timescale agreed between the Agency and its customers.

Key Target 2:

To establish the baseline for measurement of customer satisfaction with the Agency's products and services.

Key Target 3:

To complete the agreed annual production programme on time and to cost.

Key Target 4:

To establish the baseline measurement of the effectiveness of the Agency's geographic information holdings in meeting customer requirements.

Key Target 5:

To maintain the requirement-readiness state of the required Field Support elements of the Agency as required by the Department.

Key Target 6:

To achieve a 3 per cent. improvement in efficiency.

RAF Personnel Management Agency

Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what key targets have been set for the RAF Personnel Management Agency for the financial year 1999-2000. [86913]

Mr. Doug Henderson: Key Targets have been set for the Chief Executive of the RAF Personnel Management Agency for the Financial Year 1999-2000 as follows:

Key Target 1--Peacetime Manning

To ensure that the percentage of trained personnel either filling posts or on alternative tasks for which there is an approved Manning and Training Margin is 92.5 per cent. or greater.

Key Target 2--War, Crisis and MOD Authorised Unestablished Tasks

To man War, Crisis and MOD authorised Unestablished Tasks at 98 per cent. or greater.

Key Target 3--Career Management

To ensure that 80 per cent. or more personnel who are given a posting that qualifies for a domestic move receive a minimum of 90 days notice.

Key Target 4--Manpower Planning

To ensure that the percentage variation between the actual trained strength and the authorised trained strength, taken as an average over the financial year is no greater than + or - 1 per cent.

Key Target 5--Efficiency

To maintain operating costs within a reduced cash allocation of 1.7 per cent. in real terms from the last financial year.

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Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre

Mr. McNulty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what key targets have been set for the Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre Defence Agency for the financial year 1999-2000. [86914]

Mr. Spellar: The role of the Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre is to produce imagery intelligence and imagery products and services to meet MOD and operational command requirements. The Key Targets for the Agency for the 12 months from April 1999 are:

Key Target 1:

To satisfy 95 per cent. of operational requirements for imagery, imagery intelligence (IMINT) and imagery-derived products within the timescales specified in the Customer Agreement.

Key Target 2:

To provide detached service personnel for intelligence-related support to operations duties (up to a maximum of 6 per cent. of the service strength at any time).

Key Target 3:

To satisfy 85 per cent. of non-operational requirements for imagery, imagery intelligence (IMINT) and imagery-derived products and services within the timescales specified in the Customer Agreement.

Key Target 4:

To achieve a 3 per cent. improvement in efficiency.

Key Target 5:

To establish the baseline for measurement of customer satisfaction with the Agency's products and services.

Defence Intelligence and Security Centre

Mr. McNulty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what key targets have been set for the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre Defence Agency for the financial year 1999-2000. [86915]

Mr. Spellar: The role of the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre is to train the armed forces and other Intelligence agencies in intelligence and security disciplines and conduct after capture; to maintain an operational capability; and to contribute to effective and timely advice to the armed forces on appropriate intelligence and security matters. The Key Targets for the Agency for the 12 months from April 1999 are:

Key Target 1:

To satisfy 100 per cent. of operational taskings required by the Department to the standard specified by the tasking authority.

Key Target 2:

To deliver the training programme endorsed by the Defence Intelligence Training Policy Group within agreed resources.

Key Target 3:

To achieve an overall 80 per cent. measure of customer satisfaction with the quality of training delivered.

Key Target 4:

To reduce the real-terms cost of delivering the average training place made available by the DISC by 2 per cent. in FY1999-2000.

Milestone Objective:

To achieve Investors in People accreditation by 31 December 1999.

Patents

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many patent applications have been passed to his

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Department under section 22 of the Patents Act 1977 in each year since its implementation; how many are still held by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the procedures followed by his Department in respect of this matter. [85352]

Mr. Spellar: MOD records show that 4,700 Patent Applications were passed to MOD in the period 1985-98, of which 1,669 are still prohibited from publication. The total number of applications passed to MOD between 1978, when the Patents Act was implemented, and 1984 is not available, because the only information in the computer database relates to those applications which are still subject to prohibition; 471 applications from that period are still subject to a Section 22 prohibition order. Annual summaries of these figures follow: Of the overall total of 2,140 cases still prohibited from publication, 927 are overseas patent applications, which have been filed under secure conditions in the UK. These come from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United States of America, countries with which the UK has reciprocal arrangements for the protection of applications which have been prohibited from publication, and which have procedures similar to Section 22 of the 1977 Patents Act.

The MOD may not see any prohibited application until either the owner of the application has given permission for this, or until 18 months after the filing date, if such permission is not forthcoming. The MOD endeavours to confirm a prohibition order, or to recommend rescission of the order, within three months of receipt of the applications. 85 per cent. of new applications are dealt with within this time.

Each application which is prohibited from publication is reviewed annually by MOD to decide whether the prohibition order should be maintained or rescinded.

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