House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 13 Mar 2000 (pt 9)

Helicopter Support Authority

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the future location of the defence helicopter support organisation. [113756]

Mr. Spellar: There are no plans to move the Defence Helicopter Support Authority from its current location at Yeovilton. The DHSA will become part of the Equipment Support (Air) Business Unit from 1 April 2000 within the Defence Logistics Organisation.

Armed Forces Personnel Administration Organisation

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list (a) those targets of the Armed Forces Personnel Administration 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. [111765]

Dr. Moonie [holding answer 6 March 2000]: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the right hon. and learned Member.

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Letter from Terence S. Lord to Mr. Menzies Campbell, dated 13 March 2000:

I am writing in response to your request to the Secretary of State for Defence for information with regard to AFPAA targets which were not achieved for 1998-1999 and the action taken to improve target achievement performance for 1999-2000. As Chief Executive of the Armed Forces Personnel Agency (AFPAA), I have been asked to reply.

The information requested is contained in the AFPAA Annual Report (HC631) under the section entitled 'Performance against Key Targets 1998-1999', a copy of which is in the Library of the House. For ease of reference, a copy of the aforementioned section of the Annual Report is attached.

You will note that the Agency achieved all its key/milestone targets (in most cases exceeding 1998-1999 performance targets and achieving those set for 1999-2000), except the formulation of a plan to validate the completeness and accuracy of military records of service and subsequently to introduce sample validation, which was only partially achieved. The validation of personnel records is a necessary precursor to the introduction of the new pay system for the Armed Forces, which is now due for delivery by 1 April 2001, and the creation of a tri-Service Corporate Personnel Database (CPD).

While plans were formulated and detailed discussions were held with the Agency's customers (the Service Principal Personnel Officers), the sampling methods necessary to enable the checks to be carried out were not completed to original targets. The proliferation of single-Service legacy systems (those inherited on the formation of the Agency) rendered the validation task and the introduction of appropriate sampling methods far more complex than had been originally forecast. Consequently, this work has been carried forward into the current Financial Year.

As you might imagine, this is a high priority for AFPAA at the moment and plans are being addressed with both our customers and our private partner, Electronic Data Systems (Defence) Limited, with the intention of completing the initial data cleansing later this year, and thereafter introducing a programme of rolling data validation.

I hope that this information is useful to you.

Defence Intelligence and Security Centre

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list (a) those targets of the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre 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. [111749]

Dr. Moonie [holding answer 6 March 2000]: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the right hon. and learned Member.

Letter from G. G. Holton to Mr. Menzies Campbell, dated 13 March 2000:

In response to Parliamentary Question 1156K. The Defence Intelligence and Security Centre achieved 4 out of its 5 key targets during financial year 1998-1999. On the attached we have highlighted each key target, indicating if the key target was met or not and provided a short summary for each.

The DISC did not achieve key target 4. Although the endorsed training programme was delivered the Agency did overspend during the course of the financial year. We have explained the main reasons for this and have attributed the fact to problems that were experienced in setting up the Departments largest tri-service training agency. We have now put in place a rigorous financial monitoring system to ensure that our resource management is more closely scrutinised.

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Finally, we would like to draw your attention to the recently published Agency Annual Report and Accounts for 1998-99, which sets out a summary of our achievements and future challenges that lie ahead for the Agency, a copy of which is attached. Further copies have been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Defence Codification Agency

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list (a) those targets of the Defence Codification 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. [111732]

Dr. Moonie [holding answer 6 March 2000]: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Codification Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the right hon. and learned Member.

Letter from K. A. Bradshaw to Mr. Menzies Campbell, dated 13 March 2000:

1. I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about achievement of Defence Codification Agency (DCA) key targets as the matter falls within my area of responsibility. I have numbered the replies to match your questions.

a. (1) Achieved: Attain a 10% reduction in Agency running costs (achieved 15.3%), reduction in unit cost of codification to under £51 (achieved £41.40), attain a 5% reduction of post codification challenges (achieved 5%). There were no significant factors affecting the target achievement.

(2) Not achieved: Meet timescales for UK codification as agreed in SLAs/CSAs (target 85% achieved 80%), meet timescales for International Codification requests (target 95% achieved 92%), new items codified using source data (target 75% achieved 73%). The implementation shortfall of the revised Codification IT system (ISIS2) contributed significantly to these targets not being achieved.

On 1 April 1999, the Defence Codification Agency ceased to exist and was subsumed with the Logistic Support Services Agency. The ISIS2 database has now been fully implemented and performance shortfalls have been eliminated.

2. The above information has been extracted from the Defence Codification Agency Annual Report and Accounts 1999, a copy of which is held in the House of Commons Library reference HC720.

Defence Postal and Courier Services Agency

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list (a) those targets of the Defence Postal and Courier Services 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. [111754]

Dr. Moonie [holding answer 6 March 2000]: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Postal and Courier Services Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the right hon. and learned Member.

Letter from B. J. Cash to Mr. Menzies Campbell, dated 13 March 2000:

I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence about those targets of the Defence Postal and Courier Services Agency which were and were not achieved in 1998/99, factors affecting these outcomes and actions taken to improve performance in 1999/2000. This matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the British Forces Post Office, as the Defence Postal and Courtier Services Agency is now named.

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The Defence Postal and Courier Services Agency was set four Key targets, all of which it achieved.

a. To achieve a 2% improvement in the range of postal and courier services provided.

b. To achieve independent assessment of DPCSA using the British Quality Foundation (BQF) Business Excellence Model (BEM) by 31 Mar 99, to enable subsequent measurement of business improvements.

c. To exceed an average 95.85% satisfaction of Customers' postal and courier requirements.

d. To exceed an average 3% improvement in unit cost per output.

Factors affecting the outcomes were:

a. DPCSA launched an initiative to stock part of the Royal Mail Post Shop range at all Forces Post Offices world-wide, to enable customers to have access to, amongst other products, packaging materials approved by the Post Office.

b. DPCSA devoted considerable resources to BEM assessment, and focused on putting forward an entry into the United Kingdom National Quality Award.

c. The Agency exceeded its postal and courier Quality of Service requirements against a background of a major Operational deployment to Kosovo. Despite the difficulties endemic in Operational support, and the deployment of Agency personnel to the Theatre, careful management of the postal network and the employment of civilian casual staff ensured that the target was met.