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TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Insolvency Service: Performance Targets 2005–06

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr. Gerry Sutcliffe): Against a planning assumption of dealing with 45,000 new insolvencies and 81,000 new claims for redundancy payments, I have set the Insolvency Service the following targets for the year 2005–06.
 
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Published Targets 2005–06	Target
Process Redundancy Payment claims for payment within:
3 Weeks	70 per cent
6 Weeks	92 per cent
Reduce the unit cost of enforcement activity by	25 per cent
Increase enforcement activity outputs (disqualification, bankruptcy restrictions orders and reports by official receivers of criminal conduct) by	41 per cent
Reduce average time for concluding disqualification proceedings to	22 months
Increase the level of public confidence in the service's enforcement regime to	55 per cent
Increase the level of user satisfaction index to	88 per cent
Reduce the bankruptcy administration fee by1 April 2006 to	£1,600*
Reduce the company administration fee by1 April 2006 to	£1,920*

* Not adjusted for inflation

In addition to the above targets I have asked that, as part of its efficiency promise, the service looks to reduce the costs of accommodation and procurement by 8 per cent. by 31 March 2006 from the 2003–04 baseline and further reduce the costs of redundancy payment processing by 2.5 per cent. by 31 March 2006. Overall I have asked the Service to produce efficiency gains of at least £6 million over the period to 2007–08.

The Service will also be seeking re-accreditation to the Investors in People standard by January 2006. The Service is also required to meet centrally promulgated targets relating to replying to correspondence from hon. Members, reducing the level of sick absence and processing payments to suppliers. From 1 April 2004 the Service's case administration work has been funded by its fee income and the Service is also required to ensure that it balances its costs and income over a three-year period.

Companies House (Performance Targets)

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr. Gerry Sutcliffe): I have set Companies House the following targets for the year 2005–06:

By March 2006 to provide the capability for 80 per cent. of documents, ¹ which it would be possible to e-enable, to be submitted on line.

To ensure that the following services: Companies House Direct; WebCheck; and webfiling, are available for 99 per cent. of the time between the hours of 7 am and midnight, Monday to Saturday.

To achieve 35 per cent. take-up for electronic submission of documents ¹ by the end of 2005–06, 55 per cent. take-up by the end of 2006–07 and 75 per cent. take-up by the end of 2007–08.

To achieve, on average, a monthly compliance rate for accounts and annual returns submitted of 92 per cent.

To ensure that 97.5 per cent. of all forms submitted to Companies House are captured error-free.

To ensure that of 99.5 per cent. of images placed on the Companies House image system are legible.

¹ a document is an individual transaction that a company can make with Companies House to submit or register information.
 
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To achieve for 2007–08 a reduction in real terms of 10 per cent. compared to 2004–05, in the unit cost of the range of transactions covering registration, company search and active register size.

To achieve a score of more than 85 per cent. in each quarterly Companies House Customer Satisfaction Survey.

To resolve 97 per cent. of complaints within five days.

To achieve, taking one year with another, a 3.5 per cent. average rate of return based on the operating surplus expressed as a percentage of average net assets.

To pay all bills due within 30 days, or on other agreed credit terms, on receipt of goods or services or a valid invoice whichever is later.

The Chief Executive to reply within 10 days to all letters from Members of Parliament delegated to her for reply.

TRANSPORT

Highways Agency Business Plan

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. David Jamieson): The Highways Agency's 2005–06 business plan is published today and contains eight key targets for the agency to deliver by 31 March 2006. These are:

Indicator	2005–06 Target
1. Deliver the programme of improvements to the strategic road network.	Achieve:At least 450 of 474 progress points for the major national schemes (contributing to a 3 year target of 1,424 progress points).
	Achieve at least 565 of 595 progress points for the approved major regional schemes (contributing to a 3 year target of 1,397 progress points).
	Introduce variable speed limits on the Active Traffic management (ATM) pilot on M42 by December 2005.
	Complete a cumulative total of at least 60 of 92 priority action sites at junctions.
2. Deliver a demonstrable reduction in incident-related congestion and minimisation of road works-related congestion.	In rolling out the Regional Control Centres (RCCs) and Traffic Officer Service, achieve at least 430 of 505 progress points (contributing to a 2 year target of 649 progress points).
	For the busiest sections of motorway in the West Midlands, HA Traffic Officers will attend 75% of incidents within 15 minutes of being deployed.
	In the West Midlands, HA Traffic Officers will clear 75% of incidents within 30 minutes of taking full responsibility forre-opening the road to traffic.
3. Make information available to influence travel behaviour and inform decisions.	Make a demonstrable improvement to the accuracy of the variable message signs (VMS) by March 2006 and develop an action plan for further improving their accuracy and effectiveness.
	Introduce travel plans to at least three sites by March 2006.
	Identify and announce a further pilot site for car sharing lanes on the motorway network by December 2005.
4. Deliver the Agency's agreed proportion of the national target. By 2010 reduce by a third (ie to 2,238) the number of people killed/seriously injured on trunk roads compared with the 1994–98 average of 3,357.	Reduce by 653 to 2,704.
5. Maintain the network in a safe and serviceable condition.	Maintain a road surface condition index score of 100±1.
6. Mitigate the potentially adverse impact of strategic roads and take opportunities to enhance the environment taking into account value for money.	Achieve at least 95% across the 5 sub targets:Air Quality: implement measures to improve the air quality of at least 2 out of 21 prioritised Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA).
	Biodiversity: Achieve at least 7% of the published HA Biodiversity Action Plan (HABAP), which extends across 15 priority targets (making a cumulative total of 35% of the HABAP complete).
	Landscape: Introduce at least 12 planting schemes to enhance the landscape.
	Noise: Treat at least 200 lane km of concrete road surface with lower noise surfacing.
	Water: Treat at least 4 pollution risk water outfall sites.
7. Deliver a high level of road user satisfaction.	Customer satisfaction of 83.5% for trunk roads and 87.5% for motorways.
8. Deliver the Highways Agency's contribution to the Department's efficiency target.	Deliver improvements in roads procurement through adding value to service delivery of £66 million in 2005–06.
	Deliver our programme within the allocated administration budget, which requires an efficiency improvement of at least 2.5% per annum.

 
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Explanatory notes against each of these indicators are provided in the business plan, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Dartford-Thurrock Crossing Road User Charging Scheme Accounts 2003–04

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. David Jamieson): The Dartford-Thurrock Crossing Road User Charging Scheme accounts for 2003–04 have been laid before Parliament today under section 3(1) of the Trunk Road Charging Schemes (Bridges and Tunnels) (Keeping of Accounts) (England) Regulations 2003. Copies of the accounts have been placed in the House Library.

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