Supplementary memorandum by HM Treasury
1. This memorandum sets out further information
which the Committee has requested on the work we are undertaking
to reduce the long working hours of some Treasury staff, the terms
of reference of the Myners review of institutional investment,
and the terms of reference of the work which the Treasury and
the DSS are undertaking on the Pensioners' Credit.
CHANGING THE
LONG HOURS
CULTURE
2. We are well aware that, in common with
a number of other Whitehall departments, the Treasury has a reputation
for working long hours and that this can act as a disincentive
to recruitment and retention, especially, but by no means exclusively,
of married women. We are therefore seeking to tackle this on a
number of fronts.
3. First, we have been concerned to establish
what the facts are and then to monitor the position at regular
intervals. For the last three years, we have been collecting information
about the number of hours worked at all levels and in all areas
of the department three times a year (for the periods January
to March, April to August and September to December). We analyse
the material by pay range and by Directorate, to enable us to
identify any particular pinch points, and publish the results
to the whole Department. The most recent analysis is below.
CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE IN THE TREASURY
WORKING MORE THAN CONDITIONED HOURS OVER THE THREE MONITORING
PERIODS IN 1999.
| Period | More than
plus 20
| More than
plus 16 | More than
plus 11
| More than
plus 6 | More than
plus 1
|
| Jan-Mar 99 | 3% | 6%
| 13% | 31% | 62%
|
| Apr-Aug 99 | 1% | 4%
| 8% | 19% | 47%
|
| Sept-Dec 99 | 2% | 4%
| 10% | 22% | 51%
|
| | |
| | |
4. However, we are conscious that the information we
gather can be patchy and that those under most pressure often
find it most difficult to produce returns. We are therefore developing
a simple electronic method of collecting this information, which
can be used for a number of other purposes too.
5. Second, we realise there is a widespread belief that
people must work excessive hours to prosper in the Treasury. We
therefore emphasised, in a message from the Permanent Secretary
to the whole department in July 1999, that this was not the case
(a copy is attached). People would be judged by their outputs—the
results they delivered—and not by their inputs—the
amount of time they spent working at their desks.
6. To reinforce this message, we have, as a department,
adopted as part of our Public Service Agreement the aim of achieving
a declining trend in excessive hours worked over the years 1999,
2000 and 2001.
7. One of the main reasons why people in the department
have to work long hours is to cover for staff shortages. We have
tackled that partly by agreeing with our Ministers a reallocation
of our finances to enable us to employ the numbers of people we
require but money has not, in fact, been our main constraint.
Our greater difficulty has been in finding individuals to fill
our vacancies—a problem we share with other Government Departments
and other major employers of graduates. This year, for the first
time, we have therefore recruited graduates direct, as a supplement
to the graduate recruitment we undertake through the Civil Service
Selection Board. We have undertaken our own recruitment of economists
just below Senior Civil Service level for some time and last year
recruited generalists too—an exercise we plan to repeat
this autumn. We are increasing our recruitment at other pay ranges
as well.
8. We have adopted a number of other measures, ranging
from closing Ministerial boxes at 4 pm to asking those who arrange
meetings to ensure that they do not call them before 9.30 am or
after 5 pm (or let them run on beyond 6 pm), unless this is essential.
9. Finally, we have implemented various options for those
who do not want to work a standard week or who want to offset
periods of pressure with the opportunity to take more leave than
usual. Byond making the normal provision for flexi-time and for
part-time working and job sharing (where we operate a presumption
that all posts can be filled on this basis, unless line managers
can argue convincingly otherwise) we also offer, for example,
the possibility of working from home, with electronic links to
the office, compressing a five day week into four longer days
and working a nine day fortnight, with one full day off in lieu.
Further details are at annex B. We have people who work to all
these patterns.
TERMS OF
REFERENCE OF
MYNERS REVIEW
10. The purpose of the Review is to investigate whether
there may be factors encouraging institutional investors to follow
industry-standard investment patterns which focus overwhelmingly
on quoted equities and gilts and avoid investing in SMEs and other
smaller companies. In doing so, the Review is considering issues
such as:
— whether regulatory provisions have unintended
effects on investment decision-making;
— how pension funds make their investment decisions,
and the role of professional advisers;
— how institutional investors' results and charges
are reported; and
— the incentive effects of the methods used to assess
fund performance.
11. Paul Myners has been asked to consider the implications
of these and other issues and report back with recommendations
by the next Budget. He issued a consultation document on May 16
setting out in more detail the issues which he will be looking
at and has asked for responses to it by July 14.
12. Mr Myners has made clear that he is seeking a wide-ranging
and open debate on the issues, and that he is open-minded about
what the solutions should be.
TERMS OF
REFERENCE FOR
WORK ON
PENSIONERS CREDIT
13. Budget 2000 announced that the Secretary of State
for Social Security would publish proposals on developing a new
pensioners credit by using the Minimum Income Guarantee to reward
low income pensioners who have made some pension provision for
themselves, including those who are currently just above MIG levels.
14. There are no formal terms of reference for this work.
The agreed remit at official level is to develop a pensioner credit
for implementation during the next Parliament.
15. This work is being lead at Ministerial and official
level by the Department of Social Security. Papers are regularly
circulated to Treasury and Inland Revenue colleagues for comment
and discussion ahead of being put to their Secretary of State.
These papers have started to shape the broad policy design and
objectives, and identify, cost and assess options. Decisions on
the detailed framework which goes out to public consultation will
be taken collectively by interested Government Ministers.
| 
