§ Mr. Keith SimpsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the key milestones and their planned date for(a) his Department's and (b) his private office's 3 per cent. efficiency savings. [74650]
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§ Mr. George Robertson[holding answer 4 March 1999]: My Department's efficiency target is to achieve annual efficiency improvements of 3 per cent. (as a percentage of its operating costs efficiency baseline) each year from 1999–2000 to 2001–02. This target has not been applied uniformly across the Department, but has been disaggregated according to the scope to achieve efficiency in different budget areas. Progress in achieving this target is monitored by a steering group chaired by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Armed Forces.
Budget holders are required to identify the value and means of achievement of efficiency as part of my Department's annual planning processes. Total efficiency achieved will therefore be the sum of many hundreds of individual measures across the Department. Examples of some of the initiatives that will contribute towards the achievement of the Department's efficiency target were set out in section 4 of the Ministry of Defence's Public Service Agreement, published by HM Treasury in December 1998, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House. Draft plans at present indicate the potential to achieve efficiency improvements valued at some £530 million in 1999–2000. The realism of these plans, and the level of cash savings they eventually produce, remains under scrutiny.