1. General

The Committee is concerned at the plethora of documents which currently exist against which the performance of the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) is to be measured. There must be a risk of overlap between the Programme of Government, which is amended and agreed annually in the Assembly and DEL's Strategic Plan which has already been placed in the public domain and sets the longer term direction for DEL until March 2004.

It is still unclear to the Committee how decisions are made at departmental level as to which performance targets are to be included annually in the Service Delivery Agreement and which are to be included in DEL's Annual Business Plan. As these two separate processes could involve a considerable amount of duplication, and cost, the Committee would query whether both are needed in their present form.

The reporting arrangements for DEL's performance against targets is not user-friendly, especially to the public, with performance currently being measured against targets contained in the Programme for Government; the Public Service Agreement; the Service Delivery Agreement and the Annual Business Plan. This is extremely confusing and the lack of clear transparency is a concern to the Committee.

The Committee would support a much more streamlined approach to the whole concept of business planning, target setting and performance reporting in general. All government departments' strategic planning cycles should be brought into line with the budgetary cycle of the Spending Review 2002, which sets longer term financial allocations for departments. This would allow cross-referencing and enhance the effectiveness of joined up government. Given the possibility of duplication previously referred to, members would strongly support one comprehensive document setting out the actions to be carried out in the forthcoming business year, the departmental division responsible and SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timebound) objectives set against each area.

Following the Committee's consideration of DEL's draft SDA and the discussion with officials on 7 February 2002, the Committee's views on the document are set out below. The Committee is disappointed at the lack of detail with regard to target setting, given previous responses to the Department in this area.

2. Significant Omissions

There are several notable omissions in the draft SDA which are to be progressed in 2002/03 and will strongly contribute to achievement of DEL's objectives as outlined in its Public Service Agreement. These include:

As per the Business Plan 2001/02, an Action Plan is to be prepared by March 2002 and the PfG states that 'this will be considered from April 2002.' The Committee would expect more progress to be documented for 2002/03, with measurable outcomes.

The PfG commits to examining more closely how the 'skills from our education and training systems match the needs of a modern economy' and to 'improving labour market information.' However no targets have been set in the draft SDA for progress in this area during 2002/03.

DEL's Literacy and Numeracy strategy was to have been prepared by November 2001. The PfG states that this will be 'piloted and implementation begun by March 2003.' Again, there are no performance targets for measuring progress during 2002/03.

3. Targets in the Draft Service Delivery Agreement

3.1 Higher Education

The target in the PSA (para A) aims for '35,500 FTE students in HE institutions by March 2003.' This builds on this year's target to increase these places to 35,000 by March 2002. DEL's target in the draft SDA (A1) of 'increasing places by a minimum of 250 in 2002/03' will not achieve the PSA target of 35,500.

3.2. University Research

DEL has committed to enhancing university research (para B2) by investing £5m in the SPUR programme during 2002/03. (The same amount as last year). Whilst accepting that DEL's budget in this area has already been set for 2002/03, and that the Department must therefore cut its cloth accordingly, evidence from the two universities showed that over the last decade, funding for university based R&D in Northern Ireland has declined by some 20%, compared to an increase of 20% in Great Britain. Both stated that an additional £7m - £10m per annum is needed simply to achieve parity with the rest of the United Kingdom. DEL's current provision in this area will lead to Northern Ireland falling further behind and this should be one of the Department's main priorities in the forthcoming Spending Review.

3.3. Student Support

The Department's targets (para A3i and A3ii) to ensure that all students who apply for financial support from Education and Library Boards (ELBs) and the Student Loans Company will receive prompt payment is to be congratulated. The briefing from officials indicated that the ELBs and the Student Loans Company has signed up to the target. However, the target needs to be more precise other than just 'on time.'

3.4. Enrolments in FECs

The PSA target (para C) refers to the 'achievement by March 2003 of 1500 additional student enrolments on vocational courses in FE Colleges over the 2001/02 target of 94,000.' The target in the SDA refers to the 2000/01 enrolment figure as a benchmark. The same error seems to have been repeated at para D in the draft SDA, in relation to the target for improvement in NVQ passes.

3.5. Further Education

The Committee has concerns at the lack of performance targets in the draft SDA for the key actions outlined in relation to the further education sector. With regard to the maintenance of the further education estate, the Committee accepts that, at the time of drafting, there was little detail available regarding DEL's plans for progress in this area in 2002/03. However, DEL's capital planning for 2002/03 should by now have progressed sufficiently to allow some detail of the major initiatives to be undertaken to maintain and improve the estate in the further education sector.

As agreed with officials, greater clarity needs to be given to what is meant by the Department stating that it will 'maintain' funding in this area.

With regard to the 'application of earmarked funding to widen access and increase participation,' officials committed to putting in some detail on what DEL is aiming for in 2002/03.

At para D2, DEL lists a number of initiatives to 'improve quality and raise standards in the further education sector.' During the briefing, members were informed that there was no detail available at the time as to how these initiatives were to be progressed in the forthcoming business year. This should now be addressed especially, for example, as the Programme for Government commits DEL to the extension of the Lecturers into Industry initiative by September 2002.

3.6. Learning to increase workforce skills

Under this PSA target, the draft SDA refers to the provision of incentives under 'Individual Learning Accounts or a successor scheme.' The Committee urges resolution of the current uncertainty in this area to ensure that ILAs (or a successor scheme) is in place as soon as possible to ensure progress. There is no mention under this action of the commitment in the PfG to 'develop an integrated system of revised ILAs and Career Development Loans by September 2002.'

The stated performance target in the draft SDA 'to have up to 35 learndirect centres operational by March 2003,' needs revision. In its Annual Business Plan 2001/02, DEL is aiming to have 32 such centres operational by March 2002, so it could be concluded that DEL has already achieved the SDA target of up to 35 centres operational.

In 2002/03, DEL is aiming to help 12,000 people from welfare to work (para F). The Committee notes that this is a major reduction on the 2001/02 target (15,000) and was informed by officials that the decision to reduce the target by 20% was based on labour market statistics. The Committee would be grateful for a copy of the information on which this decision was based.

The Committee also seeks clarification on how the target of 12,000 for next year is made up, as the associated performance targets relate to getting only 3,100 people in total into employment via New Deal, Worktrack and Enterprise Ulster. The Committee was informed that the target included a significant number of people dealt with by JobCentres who were not placed on any of the above programmes. Members would also be grateful for further information on how performance against this part of the target will be measured. For example, is there qualitative assessment and reporting of this?

Officials agreed that the targets for the New Deal programme for next year needed to be completely revised, given the current backlog of approximately 7,000 applications waiting to be placed on the programme. The SDA should have separate performance targets for dealing with the backlog and for measuring the effectiveness of New Deal in helping participants to gain employment after finishing the programme. It should be noted that, in this regard, the targets for unemployed people moving into employment following participation on New Deal should be amended to read 'sustained employment' i.e. employment lasting at least 13 weeks.

At the briefing, the Committee expressed their concern at the absence of targets for the services provided in JobCentres (F1 and F2). Members have heard evidence at past meetings of JobCentres advertising vacancies which had already been filled, New Deal Personal Advisers not meeting their commitments with regard to the regularity of interviews and having to work with unmanageable caseloads. There is therefore a need for targets for the JobCentre network as a whole to be included in the SDA to measure performance, as JobCentre staff are dealing with key customers of the Department.

The Committee requests detail on the performance targets currently in place for JobCentre staff.

Officials also agreed to include targets here to address the serious situation regarding both staff shortages and absenteeism in JobCentres. This is placing additional pressures on those staff at work and has already been highlighted as an area in need of serious attention by both the Minister and the Permanent Secretary, at recent meetings with the Committee.

The Department has not set any performance targets for its Focus for Work programme that relates to the unemployed before they become eligible for New Deal. This is despite the fact that the PfG commits to 'achieving the full implementation of Focus for Work by 2003 including additional Jobclub provision and new vocational training provision.'

3.9. Jobskills

The PSA target re NVQ achievement under Jobskills for the 2000/01 intake has been duplicated under paras G and H. The target for achievement by March 2004 (para H) should not be included in the SDA for 2002/03 as it is not measurable within this time period. DEL may wish to consider a target for progress in this area by March 2003, in order to ensure achievement by March 2004.

The PfG does not commit to a timetable for implementation of the ONE service as it is currently being piloted, with DEL to complete their evaluation by March 2002. However the performance target in the SDA (para I) commits to developing a plan for rollout, if appropriate. DEL needs to state when this plan is to be commenced, if appropriate.

There is some confusion in this area. The PSA output (para J) is stated as introducing the new processes in up to 11 locations by March 2003, whereas the related performance target in the draft SDA refers to having 11 additional locations operational by March 2003. The SDA needs to state the benchmark figure, given that the target in the Annual Business Plan 2001/02 was to roll out the process to a further 3 offices.

There are several targets in the PfG where DEL may have a role in conjunction with other departments: eg

• During 2002-2005 fund 120 high technology/value added spin-out and spin-in companies in research-linked incubation units. (Pg. 48)

• By 31 December 2004, establish 20 new and enhanced Centres of Research Excellence. (Pg. 48)

• During 2002/03, support a programme aimed at encouraging graduates to pursue careers in management and provide management development opportunities for existing managers to strengthen management competence in Northern Ireland industry. (Pg. 49)

• From 2002, pilot an initiative in FECs to support SMEs. (Pg. 49)

• We will work with universities, further education colleges.... to secure investments by 20 knowledge based industries each year. (Pg. 49)

The Committee would like clarification on DEL's involvement in these areas, including funding, and which department will be accountable to ensure target achievement.

5.1. DEL's Strategy for Consulting with Customers

The Committee discussed with officials the need for DEL's definition of its customers to be widened to include, for example, students and the many employees who are affected by the work undertaken by the Department.

There is little in the current draft as to how customer service is to be measured and improved. The Committee is also disappointed at the lack of recognition to staff as internal customers. Is there a current process in place to measure staff satisfaction and, if so, what are DEL's plans in this area for 2002/03?

The transparency of this area of the document would be enhanced by stating the key activities to be met in DEL's Equality Impact Assessment Timetable, in an annex if appropriate.

The only target in this area i.e. 'full rollout by March 2004' is not measurable within the timeframe of this SDA. Again the progress required by March 2003, in order to ensure achievement by March 2004, should be stipulated.

Does DEL measure and report against the Citizen's Charter? This should be included under this section.

The draft SDA refers to the target that 'all Equality Scheme commitments are to be met by March 2004.' Again the progress required by March 2003, in order to ensure achievement by March 2004, should be stipulated.

The draft SDA states that DEL 'will work with its Non Departmental Public Bodies, universities and Further Education Colleges to ensure shared equality scheme commitments. Some detail should be included on how such co-operation will work in practice. Will there be a long-term commitment to ensuring strategic development and consistency in relation to equality issues under DEL's remit?

Given the importance attached to both Promoting Social Inclusion and New TSN, the Committee believes that more detail is required in the SDA on the targets to be met in 2002/03 as opposed to the statement that DEL will 'meet agreed deadlines in this area.' These deadlines should be clearly set out.

The SDA needs to be more explicit in this area in relation to target setting for the business improvement tools set out in the document i.e. how these are to be used in 2002/03 and what improvements in service standards are aimed for. The only target set for 2002/03 in this area, in relation to JobCentre applications for the Charter Mark, is not even to be achieved within this business year.

There is also a lack of detail regarding DEL's programme of periodic reviews to improve the quality and cost effectiveness of services. More information is required on the reviews to be completed, and findings implemented during the forthcoming year.

The Department has not set any targets for improving the value-for-money and efficiency in their main programmes. This needs to be addressed in the final document.

It is also unclear how, by whom and by when, the effectiveness of DEL's fraud policy, the controls in place to detect attempted fraud and DEL's investigative capabilities are to be monitored.

The draft SDA lists a number of areas which may be identified as capable of being delivered electronically. The finalised SDA should identify those areas which have received Ministerial approval and include targets for progress in 2002/03.

Members are concerned that no targets have yet been set for the actual take up of electronic services. Targets are needed to measure progression in this area for 2002/03.