Examination of Witness (Questions 80-87)
3 FEBRUARY 2005
SIR PETER
GERSHON, CBE
Q80 Chairman: You are not just going
to walk away having done this review; you are going to be here
to make sure that when we get to 2007-08 you can be asked the
questions about what happened.
Sir Peter Gershon: I have a continued
interest, yes, but in its deliverability.
Q81 Chairman: We shall look forward to
seeing you again.
Sir Peter Gershon: I shall look
forward to that pleasure.
Q82 Mr Hopkins: Could I just ask one
last question to reinforce the point you were making, Chairman?
Would you be surprised, Peter, if I told you that my office recently
telephoned the pension helpline to be told by a recorded voice
that they were number 83 in the queue? Would this suggest that
they are understaffed or overstaffed?
Sir Peter Gershon: It depends
on what quality of service the service provider is intending to
deliver. That is the fundamental thing. You then have to configure
the resources accordingly. If, also, they make you aware that
if you ring at a particular time of day and it is likely to be
very congested, it would be better if you could ring at a different
time of the day.
Q83 Chairman: You cannot call that choice,
can you: "You phone when we would like you to"?
Sir Peter Gershon: I am not here
to defend the Government's choice agenda.
Q84 Chairman: It is one of its key public
service reform objectives.
Sir Peter Gershon: Yes, but it
is for the Government to make the trade-offs between efficiency
and choice and all the other agendas it is trying to pursue. That
is not my job.
Q85 Chairman: No, you have quite enough
on your plate.
Sir Peter Gershon: I have a limited
on-going involvement in this. I have essentially returned to the
private sector.
Q86 Chairman: As I say, we may want to
revisit this some way down the line.
Sir Peter Gershon: Having done
one review back in 1999 and proposed a target which was then substantially
over-achieved, I have a personal interest in seeing that this
report also delivers what it intended to deliver.
Q87 Chairman: Do you feel confident that
this is going to happen?
Sir Peter Gershon: I am neither
confident nor do I have a lack of confidence in this. I have never
looked at efficiency drives this way. It is about driving this
thing day by day. I am satisfied at the moment that there is continued
sustained political and top management leadership of this. There
is a proper programme management function in place which is putting
pressure on departments. There is quarterly reporting to the Prime
Minister and the Chancellor giving a traffic light assessment
of progress and there are clearly things beginning to happen which
are good. There are some things which you have alluded to which
are clearly adverse to what was originally intended. It is much
too early to say. I will be confident when we are in sight of
the finishing line and even then we have to keep very focussed
on it and not look over our shoulders and get complacent that
we are so near. That is just my management style.
Chairman: I think that is a good note
to end on. We are very grateful for your evidence this morning.
Thank you very much indeed.
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