Presentation of the Aims and Objectives within the Annual Report

The report has 247 pages.

The Title Page is copied in the documentation page, and it can be established from this that
a. It is an official report by a Minister to Parliament
b. It is part of the Government's overall expenditure plans (the budget)

Foreword. The report begins with a Foreword signed by Nick Brown, the Minister for Agriculture. To give an idea of the historical moment of the report, he highlighted the following points:-

• It mentions the recent formation of the Food Standards Agency on 1st April 2000
• A new Public Service Agreement, with a robust Service Delivery Agreement (these are systems to set targets for the performance of Government Departments)
• There is a 'headline quote' that MAFF is at the forefront of work on the development of e-Government
• It notes that "The report of the BSE enquiry was published in October 2000.Its focus was on identifying the lessons for Government from the handling of the disease. BSE was a disastrous episode; I am determined to ensure that these lessons have been learned"
• But he then continues "As this report goes to press, my Department is taking all necessary measures to tackle the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. This is a devastating disease for farming and for rural communities affected."

Summary. The report continues with a Summary, stating:-
- MAFF's aim from April 2001 (as in the first 3 points above) - then sections on (my summary):-

then follows:-

Chapter 1. Introduction. This introduces first the report itself, then the ministerial team (of elected and nominated politicians), then it introduces the structure of the Department - Permanent Secretary and 18 groups of civil servants, Management Board, Regional Service Centres, subsidiary Executive Agencies, and other Non-Departmental Public Bodies.
There are also introductory notes on the Resource Plan Tables, and the estimated Outturn figures, and a 1-page summary of the spending plans.

Chapter 2 Delivering Better Public Services. The concept of "Performance against Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets" is introduced.
Then, finally, we have the 10 Objectives. Each of these has a tabulation underneath with a detailed PSA target, and a brief report on progress towards the target. A sample page is given in Appendix B

Remainder of the Report. Covers other key issues and indicators, often with a financial emphasis.

Presentation of the Aims and Objectives

Above, I have described how the Aim and Objectives are used in the body of the text
The Aim is the keynote for the Summary Chapter
The Objectives as the focal points for the PSA targets in the "Delivering Better Public Services" Chapter 2

However, the Aim and Objectives are also quoted together as one text in a 'fold-out' inside the back cover of the report, including both the 'before April 2001' and 'after April 2001' versions. A photograph of this is in the documentation page