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Service Children's Education Agency

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list (a) those targets of the Service Children's Education agency for 1998-99 which (i) were and (ii) were not achieved, giving the factors affecting the outcome in each case and (b) action taken by the agency to improve target achievement performance in 1999-2000; and if he will make a statement. [111738]

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Dr. Moonie: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Service Children's Education agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the right hon. and learned Member.

Letter from David Wadsworth to Mr. Menzies Campbell, dated 6 March 2000:

Key Targets

The Key Targets for 1998/99 for the Service Children's Education Agency, and our performance against them, are set out in our Annual Report and Accounts 1998/1999 (HC167), a copy of which was placed in the library of the House of Commons.

In broad terms the performance of the Agency was judged in 98/99 against nine Key Targets; five directly related to education; the remainder covering efficiency, customer satisfaction and response times to enquiries. A final milestone target related to the introduction of an SCE nursery education scheme.

The performance of the Agency against these targets is set out at Annexes A and B, attached.

As you will see from those figures, I am pleased to report that, in the main, we met the overwhelming majority of our targets. Those that we did not meet are as follows:

Key Target 4--The SATs targets at Key Stages 12, 2 and 3 (ages 7, 11 and 14)

Although 11 of the 18 individual aspects to this target were achieved, 7 were not. These were:

English--Key Stage 1 Test/Task, and Key Stage 3 Teacher Assessment

Maths--Key Stage 1 Teacher Assessment and Key Stage 2 Test/Task

Science--Key Stages 1 and 3 Teacher Assessment and Key Stage 3 Test/Task

No specific reasons for failing to achieve these targets has yet been adduced. It should be noted that in all assessments at KS1, KS2 and KS3 our achievement scores were higher than English LEAs, sometimes significantly so (on average by +5.8%).

Key Target 7--The Efficiency Target (reduction in per capita pupil costs, measured on an accruals basis)

An unexpected drop in pupil numbers combined with increased financial investment in education, for example extra funding for the Literacy and Numeracy strategies, meant that this target was not met in 1998/99. The use of such a blunt measure of efficiency has now been judged to be unrealistic, given the continuing investment in education spending and teaching salaries. It has therefore been proposed that, for 1999/2000 and beyond, the Agency should develop a means to measure the "value added" by SCE. This will require further developments in baseline assessments and in pupil through-life tracking via Unique Pupil Numbers (UPNs).

With regard to the future, our Key Targets for 99/00 have been modified to achieve an improvement each year on the Agency's performance on the previous year. This should reflect a more realistic but nevertheless challenging target in these subjects. My aspiration to improve our performance in 1999/2000 is being addressed by involving schools more closely in the target setting process, a continued commitment to the literacy and numeracy strategies through intensive in service training for teachers, and the greater involvement of the external advisers to Agency's Owner's, namely DfEE, HMI/Ofsted and the Chief Education Officer of Hampshire Local Education Authority to ensure that the targets are realistic.

I hope that this is helpful.

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Annex A--Service Children's Education--Performance against key targets 1998-99

KT No.	Key target description	Target (Percentage)	Achievement	Remarks
1	Exceed the 1997-98 UK LEA average percentage pass rate (measured as a percentage of pupil entries) gaining A* to C grade in 5 or more subjects at GCSE by 4 per cent.	44.3%	47.4%	--
2	Exceed the 1997-98 UK LEA average percentage pass rate (as measured as a percentage of subject entries) at grades A to C level at A level by 2 per cent.	54%	60.3%	--
3	Maintain an overall percentage pass rate for GNVQ intermediate level	92%	70-96%	70 per cent. of those who commenced the course completed it in the year. 96% of those who completed it were successful
4	Achieve the following results at Standard Attainment Tasks and Tests (SATs) at each of ages 7, 11 and 14	Please see Annex B	Please see Annex B	--
5	Achieve as a minimum satisfactory + in each OFSTED school inspection	Sat+	Achieved	--
6	Implement the SCE elements of the MoD scheme for the provision of nursery education overseas to be completed by September 1998	September 1998	Achieved	--
7	To achieve an overall reduction in per capita pupil costs, measured on an accruals basis	2.5%	Failed	Unexpected drop in pupil numbers and increased spend on DfEE initiatives
8	Achieve an index of satisfaction with SCE within the Army Continuous Attitude Survey above 358	+358	+371	--
9	Ensure percentage of enquiries and/or requests answered within 10 working days of receipt	90%	Achieved	--

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Annex B--Key Target 4: National curriculum assessment results--1998Percentage

Subject/Key stage	Target	Achieved	Variation
English
KS1
Teacher Assessment	87	87	0
Reading Test/Task	87	85	-2
Writing Test/Task	89	89	0
KS2
Teacher Assessment	68	71	+3
Test/Task	71	74	+3
KS3
Teacher Assessment	67	64	-3
Test/Task	73	80	+7
Maths
KS1
Teacher Assessment	89	88	-1
Test/Task	89	90	+1
KS2
Teacher Assessment	71	71	0
Test/Task	73	68	-5
KS3
Teacher Assessment	71	71	0
Test/Task	68	70	+2
Science
KS1
Teacher Assessment	90	88	-2
KS2
Teacher Assessment	72	74	+2
Test/Task	78	79	+1
KS3
Teacher Assessment	73	66	-7
Test/Task	74	67	-7

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Meteorological Office

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list (a) those targets of the Meteorological Office for 1998-99 which (i) were and (ii) were not achieved, giving the factors affecting the outcome in each case and (b) action taken by the agency to improve target achievement performance in 1999-2000; and if he will make a statement. [111750]

Dr. Moonie: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Meteorological Office. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the right hon. Member.

Letter from Peter Ewins to Mr. Menzies Campbell, dated 6 March 2000:

I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the Met. Office's performance against its key performance targets in 1998-99. This matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of The Met. Office.

Our targets in 1998-99, as announced in Hansard on 24 April 1998 (Col 714), were as follows:

Key Target 1

To achieve a value of at least 111.1 index points on 31 March 1999 from a baseline of 100.0 on 31 March 1995, for the global Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) index, which measures the overall forecasting skill of the global NWP model;

Key Target 2

To achieve an index level of 104.0 by 31 March 2000 from a baseline of 400.0 at 31 March 1996, and to achieve an increase of at least 2.0 index points during 1998-99 for the UK NWP partial index, which measures the forecasting skill of the NWP model for the UK;

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Key Target 3

To increase the index of service quality to at least 104.8 on 31 March 1999 from a baseline of 100.0 for 1996-97, in line with agreed customer requirements. The index covers representative services and products across defence civil aviation, public and business users;

Key Target 4

To improve efficiency from a baseline of 100.0 on 31 March 1997 to at least 108.0 on 31 March 1999 as measured by the agreed Efficiency Index;

Key Target 5

To achieve an overall return on capital employed (ROCE) of at least 7% taken year on year. For the financial years 1997-98 and 1998-99 to achieve an overall ROCE of at least 11.6% averaged over the two years;

Key Target 6

To make a contribution from commercial activities in 1998-99 of not less than £1.1 million, on the agreed basis of measurement.

Our performance against these targets was published in our Annual Report and Accounts for 1998-99, copies of which are available in the library of the House, and is summarised in the following table:

Key performance indicator	Target	Outturn	Achieved
UK NWP Index	(14)104.2	106.3	Yes
Global NWP Index	111.1	109.9	No
Service Quality Index	104.8	114.5	Yes
Efficiency Index	108.0	111.5	Yes
ROCE(15)	7%	(16)10%	Yes
Commercial Contribution	£1.1m	£1.8m	Yes

(14) The Index score at the end of 1997-98 was 102.2.

(15) The basis of calculating ROCE changed during 1998-99 as a result of the introduction of FRS12, a financial reporting standard that affected the accounting treatment of provisions. ROCE performance in the table is shown pre-FRS12, being the basis upon which the 1998-99 target was set. The post FRS12 outturn was 6.3%.

(16) The average ROCE for 1997-97 and 1998-99 was 13.8% pre-FRS12 (13.5% post-FRS12).

As you will see, we exceeded our financial performance targets by a significant margin and substantially improved our service quality and efficiency. We also improved our UK Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) Index, which is a measure of our underlying forecasting accuracy for the UK, by a significant margin. However, we fell just short of the Global NWP target. Problems with the model's handling of the South Pole region were identified

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and rectified, and benefits of a higher resolution model introduced in January 1998 began to feed through towards the end of 1998-99. As a result, the target score was achieved less than 2 months into 1999-2000. Moreover, comparison with the performance for global models run by other Meteorological services shows that, despite the failure to achieve our own challenging performance target, we have maintained our position as a world-class weather forecasting centre.
To improve Global NWP performance in 1999-2000, a number of further enhancements to the model have been introduced, and I am pleased to say that we are currently on course to meet both of our NWP targets this year. We are also on track to deliver greater in-year cost efficiency, part of which has been anticipated in agreed prices for 1999/2000 with the remainder to be passed on to our customers through further price reductions in future years. We have cut the planned level of ROCE substantially, in line with our strategy of investment for growth, which will enable us, inter-alia, to improve service quality (especially forecasting accuracy and responsiveness to customer needs) and, largely through increased automation, generate further down-stream efficiency improvements. We are, however, unlikely to meet our target for commercial contribution, although our commercial business remains profitable. We have already introduced changes to our commercial division, including the appointment of a new Managing Director, which we are confidence will increase both revenue and profitability in 2000-01.

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