§ Mr. SproatTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress he has made in achieving the target of a reduction of 1.5 per cent. in his Department's running costs for the present financial year, in the first half of this financial year; and what specifically has been saved, by what means and in what areas of his responsibility.
§ Mr. FormanThe Department's target for efficiency improvements in the 1992–93 financial year, as published in the departmental report in February 1992, Cm 1911, is 2.2 per cent. The main contributing areas to this are the wider use of information technology, relocation of posts, rigorous staffing reviews, and tighter control of support service costs. The Department expects to reach its target, but the data necessary for calculating efficiency improvements are not available until after the year-end.