§ Malcolm Bruce:To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on value for money improvements in her Department for each year from 1997–98 to 2002–03. [143134]
§ Ms Hewitt:My Department's annual spring Reports contain information on departmental management and public service delivery, including on measures taken to improve efficiency and value for money.
For the years 1997–98 and 1998–99, value for money and efficiency savings were not reported separately in the Department's annual reports but were contained within the chapters on the Management of the Department.
During the period covered by the Comprehensive Spending Review (1999–2002), the Department had a strategic efficiency target to achieve savings of 2.5 per cent.of its running costs each year. In 1999–2000 the DTI achieved a saving of 2.6 per cent. of running costs (£10.6 million projected costs of £406.6 million); and in 2000–01 the Department achieved a saving of 4.6 per cent. (£19.3 million on projected costs of £418.8 million).
The CSR efficiency target was replaced for the 2000 Spending Review period (2001–04) by a Public Service Agreement Target to
achieve value for money improvements of 2.5 per cent. a year across the Department",which was carried over into the 2002 Spending Review (2003–06). In 2001–02 value for money improvements under this target amounted to 3.79 per cent. The Department's performance for 2002–03 will be reported on in the 2004 Departmental report, which is due to be published in spring 2004.