James McDaid
Question:22 Dr. McDaid asked the Minister for the Environment if he will publish the value for money reports compiled on local authorities; and the name of the authorities concerned. [5041/97]
Written Answers. - Local Authority Activities.
Donal Moynihan
Question:71 Mr. Moynihan asked the Minister for the Environment if he will publish the value for money reports compiled on local authorities; and the name of the authorities concerned. [5040/97]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 22 and 71 together.
As outlined in Better Local Government — A Programme for Change, the role of the value for money (VFM) unit of my Department will be enlarged in terms of scope and application. With the experience gained from projects already completed, the unit will be in a position to undertake more comprehensive and in-depth analysis of a wider range of local authority activities. Value for money audits will be placed on a statutory basis and, on foot of this, it is proposed that the VFM unit will publish full details of the results of its work. In addition, it is proposed to identify a range of financial performance indicators against which local authorities will be required to measure their performance and publish the results; the purpose will be to identify best practice and encourage individual local authorities to improve their performance levels.