Written question asked by Lord Pickles (Conservative) on Thursday, 6 November 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 17 November 2003. It was answered by Yvette Cooper (Labour) on Monday, 17 November 2003 on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Question: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, how many research projects the Regional Co-ordination Unit (a) plans to commission in 2003-04 and (b) commissioned in 2002-03; and what the rationale for each project was.

Answer: Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many research projects the Regional Co-ordination Unit (a) plans to commission in 2003-04 and (b) commissioned in 2002-03; and what the rationale for each project was. [138134] Yvette Cooper: The Regional Co-ordination Unit (RCU) currently has no plans to commission any research in 2003-04. In 2002-03, the following research was commissioned: a study of staff appraisal to see if there are any subjective differences in the way appraisals are carried out on staff of different gender, ethnicity or disability; and a report into "Incorporating Regional Perspectives into Policy Making". This was commissioned jointly by the RCU and the Cabinet Office Strategy Unit to investigate ways in which central Departments and the Government Offices could better work together to develop policy.

Secondary information