Oral Answers to Questions — Civil Service – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 22 July 1991.
Mr John Watts
, Slough
12:00,
22 July 1991
To ask the Minister for the Civil Service what visits he has paid to next steps agencies to assess the morale of staff.
Mr Timothy Renton
, Mid Sussex
I have made several visits to next steps agencies, and have met many staff working there. From what I hear from chief executives, staff morale is generally very high.
Mr John Watts
, Slough
Does my right hon. Friend agree that the policy of high-quality service to the public enhances job satisfaction for those working in executive agencies, and that the development of those agencies will play an important part in delivering the objectives of the citizens charter?
Mr Timothy Renton
, Mid Sussex
Yes, my hon. Friend is absolutely right.The purpose of next steps is to encourage executive agencies to provide a better service to the customer through good management and better staff training. In many ways, that serves as a prologue or curtain raiser to the citizens charter.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
