Written question asked by Jacques Arnold (Conservative), in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 20 March 1997. It was answered by Lord Lang of Monkton (Conservative) on Thursday, 20 March 1997 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Dept of Trade and Industry

Question: Statement on what targets he has set Companies House Executive Agency for 1997-98. - Inc figs.

Answer: Mr. Jacques Arnold: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what targets he has set Companies House executive agency for 1997-98. [21659] Mr. Lang: I have set Companies House the following targets for 1997-98: to make 95 per cent. of statutory documents available for public inspection within a maximum of five working days of receipt in Companies House; to achieve, on average, a monthly compliance rate for accounts submitted of 95 per cent.; to ensure that a minimum of 93 per cent. of fiche provided to customers are error free; to ensure that there is a minimum of 97 per cent. error free work in current processing; to answer 90 per cent. of incoming telephone calls within 20 seconds; to reduce the real unit costs of registration activity by 3 per cent. compared to the outturn in 1996-97; and to achieve, taking one year with another, a 6 per cent. average annual rate of return based on the operating surplus expressed as a percentage of average net assets. In addition, I expect the chief executive of the agency to continue to reply within 10 working days to all letters from Members of Parliament delegated to him for reply.

Secondary information