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Written question asked by Oliver Heald (Conservative) on Monday, 13 February 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 15 February 2006. It was answered by Jim Murphy (Labour) on Monday, 27 February 2006 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

COI Quinquennial Review

Question
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when the last Central Office of Information quinquennial review took place; how much it cost to complete; when the next quinquennial review is scheduled to take place; what estimate he has made of the likely cost; and what (a) recommendations and (b) changes resulted from each Central Office of Information quinquennial review since 1996–97.
Answer

The last quinquennial review of the Central Office of Information (COI) reported in February 2002.The review team was made up of staff from the Cabinet Office, the Office of Government Commerce, HM Treasury, COI and the Advisory Committee on Advertising. The cost of the time that officials spent on the review was not recorded.The next quinquennial review has not yet been scheduled. All key performance measures are reviewed at least annually.The recommendations of the 2002 review were:"Recommendation 1: COI should operate as a Department, an agency and a trading fund for the next five years;""Recommendation 2: The Regional News Network (RNN) and News Distribution Service should be relocated from 1 April 2002 to the GIGS in Cabinet Office. The RNN should also report at a regional level to the Government Offices and continue to work closely with COI;""Recommendation 3: COI should be responsible for developing research on strategic communications issues in consultation with Government stakeholders. Additional central funding should be allocated to COI for this research, subject to the 2002 Spending Review;""Recommendation 4: A new function to monitor and to advise on the co-ordination of Government marketing campaigns should be developed in COI and centrally funded, subject to the 2002 Spending Review. The chief executive of COI should undertake a new role as the Government's chief adviser on Marketing Communications and Information campaigns reporting to the Prime Minister's Director of Communications;""Recommendation 5: COI should establish an Audit and Risk Committee by 1 April 2002;""Recommendation 6: COI should continue to develop and test new and existing performance measures, including customer satisfaction, buying and campaign effectiveness and sustainable development; COI should continue to improve its services to customers by introducing new marketing materials, new internal structures and by developing a clear policy for the use of direct services."All of the recommendations have been implemented or subsumed into the recommendations of the Phillis Review.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
52366; 443 c42-3W;443 c42-3W
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Standards Reviews Central Office of Information
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk